One life ...

Gandhi is known for saying - "Be the Change you seek ..."

This week I've been finding myself in places where the change I seek is not only present in the moment, but is unfolding around me in exciting ways ... This week I've helped Chipperfield Coffee Company join in Fair Trade Manitoba's One Month Challenge, and as of last night (two days in) our expectations have been exceeded, and our customers have asked for more Fair Trade Products that we were prepared to offer at the present time ... a quick chat lead to a dozen emails and we're moving towards expanding our Fair Trade selections sooner than planned - NOT A BAD THING !!!!

Yesterday I spent some time walking up and down the back alleys and the out of the way corners of downtown Brandon exploring the places where some of the shelterless folks find themselves sleeping at night ... under bridges, behind dumpsters, in abandoned loading docks, and in protected entrance ways, the ingenuity is startling ... but the very fact that humna beings - people like YOU AND I are sleeping in such places at all in a country overflowing with resources, wealth and possibilities is APPALLING !!! But getting a sense of where it is happening is part of understanding the broad solutions needed to address the problem to begin with ...

That walk came on the heels of several provedential encounters with folks who may prove to instrumental in helping actualize some of the solutions needed for Brandon ... over coffee, in the produce aisle of a grocery store, and on a cold and windy street corner, I've come to appreciate that the Spirit has guided me to those moments for a reason ... I'm not sure yet what the reason is, but I have no doubt that in the fullness of time I will look back on those moments and see their importance through the unfolding of future events ...

Overall, though it has helped me realize the impact that one person can have ... often we underestimate the impact that a single person can have ... yet over and over in history we see individuals who manage to do astounding things by living their values and principles and helping others ... Last night I started reading the latest book by the late Edwin Friedman entitled "A Failure of Nerve" where he examines leadership in the modern era ...

His early book has been a constant companion in the journey I've been on over the last two years ... but this new book challenges us to not only re-vision leadership in an era filled with fear and cowardice, but to consider the way to lead IN SPITE of the fear and cowardice that has too often sacrificed leaders in the pursuit of the status quo.

As I read Friedman and thought about the things I've been busy with in the last couple of days I thought more about the impact a single person can have ... right now my goal is to encourage and empower folks to realize the impact they can have in the areas of Homelessness, Housing and Fair Trade ... but then I thought about the toxic nasty people who have had profoundly negative and hurtful impacts because people of Good Faith have done nothing to stop them ... Too often we underestimate the viciousness people are capable of, and by the time we begin to realize just what lies in their heart the damage is extensive, wide spread and perhaps irrecoverable ...

Gandhi's statement - "be the change you seek" MUST be connected with that change being reflective of your heart ... I look back on the presence in my journey of people who were toxic, nasty and vicious and marvel at the trust OTHERS (and myself at times) have placed in them and wonder how we could be so incredibly stupid to believe their intentions were even remotely nobel ...

The costs for that folly have been simply enormous ... I pray that one day others will see their folly and REAL and SUBSTANTIVE change can begin ...