I was told recently, by someone that I respect, that “no one wants to talk about work or sports like we once did. Because there are far more important things to discuss.” So, as I often do when I dislike something said to me by a respected source, I decided to make it the premise for my next article. I disagree with the statement, if for no other reason, because it’s not true of me. It’s not that I don’t want to discuss subjects surrounding public health and racism, but, also, I do want to discuss work and sports. Admittedly, I have not personally experienced a lot of change to my routine during this pandemic. Because I work in an auto repair shop, an essential business, I have continued to work mostly normal hours, although the amount of cars to fix is below average. Because I have a lot of family responsibilities, with a bride, three children and three dogs, I have not participated in any riots or protests. So, let me begin with the tweet I sent that prompted the aforementioned comment: I don't wanna oversimplify, but can we all just go back to work and treat others the way we wanna be treated?
I propose that change cannot be implemented through discussion. It can be identified through discussion, certainly. The need for change, ideas for change, plans to change, accounts of past change are all products of healthy discussion. So, discussion IS necessary. Change happening, however, will not occur through discussion; it will happen through action. Our everyday activities, routines, idiosyncrasies and behaviors are the soil in which the seed of change grows. I question if discussion prevents change from occurring by handicapping opportunity. Are we allowing ourselves to be distracted by discussion? We ought not expect the seed of our ideas and plans for change to become actual change if we are too busy discussing to act, behave, work, live.
So, what change shall be implemented? There's been a lot of conversation about what matters. Lives, flags, police, votes and many other subjects have been at the center of discussions regarding desired change and what matters.
Matter is the word used to identify the basic physical composition of someone or something. Another way to say it, matter is substance. So, to say something matters is to give it substance in your life. The larger, heavier or denser something is, the more matter it has. Therefore, relationships, causes or things that are bigger or weightier in your life have more substance; they matter more. Things typically matter to us by nature or nurture. Nature refers to our inborn personality; we seek out an interest because something inside us is inexplicably drawn to it. Nurture, then, refers to outside influences with which we spend time; we become interested in something by association (ei: a sibling does it so we pay attention or follow) or because our environment gives us exceptional access to it (ie: family has a pool, so I grow up swimming).
It follows, then, that whether or not something matters is simply informed by its existence. I heard once, Everybody matters to somebody. The racial unrest and social dissonance that's unsettling the country comes on the back of a viral pandemic that unsettled the world. The lack of trust in our governmental leaders seems only rivaled by the amount of unbridled stimulus money paying us more to stay home than to go to work. With these two massive hurdles between us and our routines, our patience has run thin while we discuss what matters. I think it will help to remember, Everything matters to someone.
I pray that we, as a country, will get back to our routines, while continuing the discussions that help identify needed change. I pray that we, as individuals, will commit to executing needed change in the action and movement forward of said routines. Although, the advice is centuries old, there's a quote in Matthew’s account of Jesus’s ministry, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12) This year seems like a golden opportunity for The Golden Rule. The preceding verse, I think, sets it up perfectly, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11)
You matter!
So…. Do to others what you would have them do to you.
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