A CALL TO ACTION
Disabling
There are many phrases and slogans that have been used to describe action; to act in good conscience, put your money where your mouth is and so on and so on. I’ve often thought about the pull of our comfort zones and how disabling our comforts can be. My concern here is, how do we become so comfortable that we do nothing? Human nature is such that we instinctively act, sometimes impulsively, when required to do so.
Purpose
History abounds with stories of heroes and heroines who left the comfort and safety of shelter to venture out to seek more than mere existence. Yet, this did not happen because they sought fame and fortune, although occasionally this occurred. Often many of these heroes died penniless but happy with the purpose they’d given their new lives.
Challenge
It does not mean that they had no challenges. Even Saint Mother Teresa had her ‘dark night of the soul’ moments, when doubt set in. Her well deserved sainthood could well be for keeping her sanity amid dire misery. However, taking action for something you strongly believe in can only take you so far. What fuels the continued action? Faith?
Faith
I’ve heard this simple word so often in all my long years of existence, I take it for granted. What then is faith you may well ask. My atheist friends might say, a belief in self or anything else. My answer came from that much maligned book, The Bible. A splendid book that I would recommend to anyone seeking answers for life’s challenges. No, I’m not about to preach a sermon here and I’m not on a mission to convert anyone. The book is simply very interesting.
Perfection
We bandy this word ‘faith’ about for what seems like decades, then it becomes clearer to me with a single line, a light bulb moment perhaps. ‘Abraham’s faith was perfected
by his actions…’ This was when the penny dropped; a revelation? The question I asked myself was, ‘What am I prepared to give up to perfect my faith?’ The biblical reference was to Abraham being ready to give up his son in sacrifice. His faith in God was not being questioned here, but his response in action is the point being made. It costs little to pay lip service to anything. Whether it is faith in God, myself, my neighbour, my country, the future of the planet, just so there is something that I have faith in. What action do I take to perfect that?
Sacrifice
The athlete must train long, gruelling hours to win the medal. The same goes for the concert musician, dedicated ballet dancer, or the deadly boring homework needed to finish school. There is always something to give up, either to get through a situation or gain something. What would you give up?
Achievement
Also, once we achieve the goal, it is human nature that we look for more to give up, and that is how we take action to perfect faith. The faith and the sacrifice can change daily. A constant call to action is what life is all about, just so we keep the action positive or keep the faith. The planet really needs us to gear up for action. If we could just find that sacrifice that goes with it! Or is a higher power in control and I don’t have to do a thing? Is that addictive comfort zone looming?
Nature
I think that higher power is nature. She always puts us right as in the latest threat of the pandemic facing the world – Coronavirus. We must be very careful that we’re not taken out of our addictive comfort zone drastically, when nature has to take care of the planet, as she has always done.
Climate Change
Photo by Dustin Humes on Unsplash
And some science blames climate change for the virus. Climate change increases drought and decreases food supply, so people eat wild animals more. Single crop farming serves human demand for food, while destroying the bees that pollinate the very crops humans need. We destroy the natural flora required for bee activity, when single crops replace it.
There very well could be a future force of robots that will physically pollinate crops on farms, but I think bees do a far superior job. Already humans pollinate crops by hand in China because of single crop farming. How long that will continue is anyone’s guess. What we need is a change in human behaviour, starting with a call to action. We must stop the trade in wild animals too, because they also have a vital role to play in the ecosystem.
Decision
Abraham was up for giving up his only son. Would you? A call to action is long overdue. A last word – make sure that the decision to act is yours. It is your life to live or to just drift along in the same old way that is sooo comfortable!
Lynda Rogle©
