In our last +1, we talked about being the change we want to see in the world.
I asked: What change DO you want to see?
(Well… What is it?! And… Are you being it?!)
That makes me think of another 20th century icon: Mister Fred Rogers.
In his great little book The World According to Mister Rogers, we get to immerse ourselves in a collection of wisdom-gems from the great man.
Including this one: “The values we care about the deepest, and the movements within society that support those values, command our love. When those things that we care about so deeply become endangered, we become enraged. And what a healthy thing that is! Without it, we would never stand up and speak out for what we believe.”
Mister Rogers “enraged”?
Yep.
You want to see his fierce courage in action?
Watch this 6 minute, 50 second video of him testifying before congress.
Note: Please make sure you notice how he channeled that rage into pure love.
Notice how pure love broke through the armor of a hitherto harsh foe. (I’ll be surprised if you, like the Senator in that hearing, don’t get goosebumps (and/or tears) FEELING the soul force of Fred Rogers standing up and speaking out for what he believed in and dedicated his life to.)
What’s fascinating for me is how similar Fred’s approach is to Gandhi’s.
As we discussed, one of the primary themes of that book is Gandhi’s evolution/transformation in which he learned to alchemize his anger into an unstoppable “soul-force.”
He did this via what he called “satyagraha.”
Satyagraha is a word he coined combining two Sanskrit words. It basically means “holding onto truth” and is the foundation of his (and MLK’s) “nonviolent resistance” to evil.
So… What values do YOU care about the deepest?
What movements within society support those values and command your love?
Are those values endangered?
If so, let’s become enraged and celebrate the power of that emotion as we alchemize that fierce love into noble action—standing up and speaking out for what we believe.
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