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 By the end of this week it will be 2010. I'm excited for the new year. The opportunities that lie ahead are wonderful. We will have opportunities this year that will stretch us and make a difference in the lives of those around us. Whether we take those opportunities, however, is up to us.
In my efforts to recruit candidates, I've talked to people who have told me they are too old to run for office. They wish they were younger. They wish they'd done this when they were younger. These people believe their moment is passed.
I doubt their moment has passed. Our opportunities to shape the future are never in the past. They are always right before us and within our grasp.
It makes me wonder what I will think when I look back on these times of my life. Will I say I wish I had done that then? Will I regret not having taken the bold step? Will I feel like my opportunities were there, but I didn't take them?
Whether I feel that way depends to a great extent on what I do now. Really, what we all do now. The future is in our hands. God has granted us time and talents to make the world a better place.
Elder Stephen Snow, Presidency of the Seventy, LDS Church, gave LDS Church members the following admonition:
"[W]e have a responsibility to render service in our communities. We should work to improve our neighborhoods, our schools, our cities, and our towns. I commend those in our midst who, regardless of their political persuasion, work within our local, state, and national governments to improve our lives. Likewise, I commend those who volunteer their time and resources to support worthy community and charitable causes, which bless the lives of others and make the world a better place. My grandfather taught me at an early age, 'The public service we render is the rent we pay for our place on earth.'" (October 2007 LDS General Conference)
Similarly, President Obama told the Notre Dame graduates in May of this year:
"For if there is one law that we can be most certain of, it is the law that binds people of all faiths and no faith together. It is no coincidence that it exists in Christianity and Judaism; in Islam and Hinduism; in Buddhism and humanism. It is, of course, the Golden Rule -- the call to treat one another as we wish to be treated. The call to love. To serve. To do what we can to make a difference in the lives of those with whom we share the same brief moment on this Earth." (President Barack Obama, Notre Dame Commencement Speech, May 17, 2009)
The future we want will not be handed to us on a silver platter. Instead, we must make it. If you want a society that you enjoy living in, then begin to make it. If you want a government that reflects your values rather than those of a small group of extremists, then begin to create that government. If you want to have representatives who will represent you rather than arrogate power to themselves and eschew accountability to the people, then help elect those representatives.
A new year will be here. What will we make of it? |
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