So much more is possible

Do we really appreciate how much is possible in life?  I believe in the more; I hope this but then, as I look at protests on both sides of the Pacific, I wonder if we ever learn.  Truth is life can be cruel and people can be ruthless.  Life can become stuck in ruts that lead nowhere.   

In these extraordinary times, people either shine for who they are or be seen for who they are not.  Amidst the many characters in my everyday life, I see: 
The questioning citizen, despairing at humanity - how can this be?
The self-engrossed citizen, lost in their own narrative - where am I?
The reaching out citizen, thinking of the other in their need - how can I help?
The reflective citizen, looking to the better future - what can be made of this? 

No citizen is simply slotted into one particular thinking box but may slide from one to the other.  One thought pattern may easily feed into the other, allowing both positive and negative results.  Such are the risks of the time.  

 

Meanwhile, tried leadership, in church and society and at all levels, is showing its incompetency in not asking the questions and just continuing their known and tired ways of acting out of power and control.  So, they become antiquated for the challenge of new and creative leadership in extraordinary times.    

Back to my four model citizen types, they speak of grassroots people who are floundering like everyone else but are raising the questions and struggling to find their place in an unknown world.  In this way, they are showing signs of new life and new leadership for a new future.   Without even knowing it, citizens are giving witness to the reality named by Pope Francis as, "We are in the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented".  It is questioning and not assuming that will lead us forward.  Integrity is at the heart of seeing that so much more is possible and needed, and allowing it to happen.