I have been listening to the latest John Mayer album and I have been haunted by the first single released from the album. The track is on the album Continuum and is titled Waiting on the World to Change. The song opens with the following lyric:
"me and all my friends
we're all misunderstood
they say we stand for nothing and
there's no way we ever could
now we see everything that's going wrong
with the world and those who lead it
we just feel like we don't have the means
to rise above and beat it
so we keep waiting
waiting on the world to change
we keep on waiting
waiting on the world to change"
The song has bothered me for two reasons. First is the lack of hope that we have the power or authority to change the world. And second, is that the consequence of that lack of hope is the decision to just sit back and wait on the world to change.
These two concerns lead to two other concerns. First, I believe that not only do we have the power to impact the world, but we are impacting our world everyday in either a positive way or a negative way. And second, if we are sitting back waiting on the world to change, our passivity is impacting the future of our world.
As these thoughts have been kicking around in my head (especially while hearing the song) I have come across this picture that displays the statement “We are the people we’ve been waiting for.” This statement has been challenging me in positive ways to examine how I am living my life. Am I sitting back waiting for the world to change and only complaining about why things are the way they are or am I choosing to make a positive difference. You have know choice in whether your life will have an impact on the world. However, you can choose how you will impact the world!
Jim Wallis was the speaker at the Stanford graduation in 2004 and had these words to share (the speech can be found in it’s entirety here):
“I would encourage each of you to think about your vocation more than just your career. And there is a difference. From the outside, those two tracks may look very much alike, but asking the vocational question rather than just considering the career options will take you much deeper. The key is to ask why you might take one path instead of another - the real reasons you would do something more than just because you can. The key is to ask who you really are and want to become. It is to ask what you believe you are supposed to do.
Religious or not, I would invite you to consider your calling, more than just the many opportunities presented to graduates of Stanford University. That means connecting your best talents and skills to your best and deepest values; making sure your mind is in sync with your soul as you plot your next steps. Don't just go where you're directed or even invited, but rather where your own moral compass leads you. And don't accept other's notions of what is possible or realistic; dare to dream things and don't be afraid to take risks.
You do have great potential, but that potential will be most fulfilled if you follow the leanings of conscience and the language of the heart more than just the dictates of the market, whether economic or political. They want smart people like you to just manage the systems of the world. But rather than managing or merely fitting into systems, ask how you can change them. You're both smart and talented enough to do that. That's your greatest potential. Ask where your gifts intersect with the groaning needs of the world.
The antidote to cynicism is not optimism but action. And action is finally born out of hope. Try to remember that.
What is really possible? The eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews says this:
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." And my best paraphrase of that for you is this: Hope is believing in spite of the evidence, and then watching the evidence change.”
You can make a difference! And whether you know it or not, you are making a difference, you don’t have a choice in that! But will you choose to make a positive impact on the world, or will you settle for the alternative.
