Be the Change You Wish to See in the World
 by Nancy McShane
presented January 2, 2005, at the 1st Unitarian Universalist Church of Springfield

           I hate to even bring this up. I’m going to anyway, just because it is January 2 and it seems like a good topic for a service. But I still hate to even broach this subject. See, I don’t really believe in them. New Year’s Resolutions, that is. Nope, never cared for them. They just seemed to me like one more seasonal sales event, when advertisements for Jenny Craig and Ozark Fitness Center dominate the airwaves during the lull between the commercials for Toys R Us at Christmastime and the Hallmark ads around Valentine’s Day.

           And the resolutions themselves are so predictable. You don’t even have to think much about them, since newspapers and magazines are always printing handy little top ten lists of New Year’s Resolutions. For example:

1.     Spend more time with family and friends.
2.     Exercise regularly.
3.     Lose weight.
4.     Quit smoking.
5.     Enjoy life more.
6.     Quit drinking.
7.     Get out of debt.
8.     Learn how to do something new.
9.     Volunteer to help others.
10.      Get organized.

Pick a resolution. Any resolution. It doesn’t matter much which one, as no one expects you to keep it much beyond two or three weeks. By that time media attention will be focused on the Oscar nominations or the Super Bowl and everyone will be off the hook for another year.

So let’s close the calendar, forget that it’s the New Year and turn the attention from gazing at our own navels for a moment. Let’s lift up our heads and look around. There’s a roomful of people. And outside the doors of this building are countless others. Surprise! It’s not just about you! It’s not just about me. It’s not about eating too many M&Ms or not making it to the gym after work. It’s not about running up the VISA card or alphabetizing your DVD collection.

There are people out there in Third World Countries who need change in their lives all right, but they need more change than a few resolutions will bring them. They need something stronger than willpower to make those changes happen. They need commitment from people like you and me. Commitment each and every day; not just once a year. They need for those of us in Developed Nations to change; to change our ways so that we stop using up the majority of the world’s resources though we are a minority of the world’s population.

 They need for us to wake up to the obscenity that one of our biggest complaints is that we eat too much while they go to bed each night hungry, and some do not awaken in the morning. That we lament that we do not get enough exercise when they are forced to leave their homes and walk hundreds of miles to refugee camps.

 But really, this is not just a bucket load of liberal guilt designed to make you want to join the Peace Corps (though please, feel free to join up if the spirit so moves you) or send money to the UUSC (though it is a tax deductible donation.) I would like for you to see the concept of New Year’s Resolutions in a different light.

 It came to me this year when I was reading a “Simple Abundance Daybook” by Sarah Ban Breathnach. She had an essay on resolutions in September, a better time, she felt, for making changes. Later that same day I was browsing in Renaissance Book Store and came upon a button that had this quote by Mohandas K. Gandhi on it: “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” I decided that was my resolution. To be: more outspoken about injustice. To be: more active in social and political affairs. To be: more caring about the welfare and future of our congregation.

 Sure, it’s a “Field of Dreams” sort of mentality…if you care about it, others will care too. If you do something about a problem, others will do something too. You will become a model for other to follow. A role model. That’s a designation we assign to movie stars and sports “heroes” but rarely to people who deserve to have their actions modeled. They are the type of people who rarely recognize themselves as role models. Like our own Paul Mignard.

 When he was in the hospital on Christmas Day, Earl and I stopped in to visit him. We told him that when we grow up, we wanted to be like him and Judy. He said “I don’t feel much like a role model.” And to tell you the truth, laying there in his hospital bed, he didn’t look much like one. But you and I know differently. You and I know he has led a life of simple dignity, sharing a profound love with his wife, Judy, and his family. He has taught me that you don’t stop learning and loving when you turn 40 or 75 or 90. He’s amazing.

 So I’ve asked you to write down the change you want to make in your life…the change you want to be in the world. Jane Waschick and Susan Hom are going to help me read these. We’ll post them on the web site so you can check on them throughout the year and see how you’re doing, we’re doing, the world is doing.

1st UU’s New Year’s Resolutions

This New Year brings with it my wish, my resolve, to become more productive in my daily life. I will show my gratitude for my physical health by using my body to perform household tasks, explore my creativity, further my social interests, improve my physical and mental well-being, and reach out to others.

Encourage more people to visit or join our church.

As a visiting member, I hope to relate to the congregation, in a difficult time, like "Wild Geese" in Singing the Living Tradition. Mary Oliver wrote: "You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for 100 miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine."

Find Bod (a stray cat) a good home.

Continue "Pack Rats Anonymous" cleanup.

I resolve to develop a readiness for responsibility in my actions. No matter the situation. Everything I do or say matters to someone, somewhere and I don't want to ever be guilty again of, "if only I had..." "and now it's too late."

I resolve to be healthier and exercise this year to help relieve the strain on the national health care system.

Work on improving my self-esteem.

I resolve to prepare myself for being a representative of peace in the world or in my life. I will allow myself 10 minutes per day to meditate on what peace means to me.

I resolve to forget all the bad things I know about other people so I can deal with them on an equal footing, unclouded by judgment.

Bring www.joysideagarden.com to bloom.

Participate and contribute time an efforts to church community and friends.

My resolution is to write more often to a friend who is a relief worker in Sudan...in January she's hoping to go to Thailand.

A resolution for the bettering of an individual (me) who, most likely, desperately needs it: I resolve to continue living life in a relaxed and open-minded way while striving to better involve myself with other people and to strengthen my ties to others I already know by trying more actively to communicate how I think and feel in an effective manner.

I will not eat any animal products or use any animal-tested products.

To maintain awareness and focus on the day-to-day issues so I can be effective at making changes when there is need.

I'll try to remember that "the smallest good deed is better than the grandest intention."

I will treat my sister better. That will make her feel better. When she feels better, she will treat other people better. Maybe that will make them feel better. When they feel better, they will probably threat other people better. Wouldn't that be great?!

My resolution for 2005 is to make more friends and volunteer more.

There are women all over the world whose bodies aren't their own; who are subject to starvation, mutilation, rape and abuse. I resolve to better care for my own body, to cut down on what I use and donate more to those who have less.

I'll get better grades and make my teachers happy.

My New Year's Resolution is that by the end of the year I will have collected $1,000 to give to Oprah's Angel Network.

Resolution for 2005: 1. Volunteer 1 night/month to sit with someone in Hospice care so their family can have a break. 2. Focus on acting rather than re-acting.

To learn. To know. To feel. To act.

Keep my room clean!

I will help people and help animals.

I resolve to study harder this year. Then tests and homework will be easier. I will then do better, causing my teacher to be in a better mood. Then causing my teacher to give less tests or homework.

Resolutions 2005: Work towards improving personal shortcomings. Be more aware and act on needs of others. Support the environment for instance by a) recycling b) supporting environmental groups c) supporting animal shelters and more specifically the spay/neuter programs.

My resolution is to become an example to others to take part in good deeds. I thought maybe if people saw me doing something completely selfless for a good cause they might feel inspiration to do a good deed.

My New Year's Resolution is to study more paleontology so when I grow up I can find dino bones.

My resolution is to improve my children's futures as healthy and productive citizens by improving their health, stewardship and knowledge now.