from Adam: Creating Change

Through the short two chapters of “Power and Love” much of which was said stood out to me as compelling. The first thing that struck me, as I am sure struck many others as profound, was the definitions given to both love and power. Both of these definitions burn brightly with no popularly added connotations. This book however, so far, has made it clear that it is a hard path to instill these two forces as equal as possible into one entity. As of this point I am skeptical, however optimistic that the forces of both power and love can in fact be embodied within one being (meaning one person, one community, one nation).
Although one great thing that struck me through this reading of the two forces is that from them, needs to stem creation. We as humans were created to in fact create. “Ursula Versteegen says that our most important learnings come not simply when we see the world anew, but specifically when we see ourselves- and our role in creating the world- anew” (22). The hardest part in this is the process of “seeing ourselves.” I feel as though many live day-to-day, year-to-year, decade-to-decade, without ever really examining oneself. I understand that it takes time and much strength to do so however I know that until we all examine oneself, we have no place or time to examine aspects of social change. If we examine other aspects of our world rather than the body and spirit in which we inhabit, whatever it is that we create will most likely become hollow. Therefore first we must examine self on the individual level to then create.
It is important to create anew, for leaders to create new realities, for all to create new realities. “One of my Guatemalan colleagues had been taught by the Jesuits that having a gift should be treated not as a virtue but as a responsibility. After all, because it is given to you, a gift is not something for which you can take credit” (36). We have all been given the gift of life. With this gift of life comes the gift of our voice for change. With the uniting of love and power comes creation, that creation must now be change.