now…

bring light; bring light now.

Photo by Nahid Hatami on Unsplash

now…

with every act of incivility i witness,
   i will double my effort to be civil. 
with every act of bullying i see, 
   i will double my effort to be an upstander. 
with every expression of anger aimed outward, 
   i will double my effort to smile and calm. 
with every act intended to divide,
   i will double my effort to connect. 
with every act meant to destroy what the universe put into the world,
   i will double my effort to build and rebuild. 
with every act of racism and bigotry i learn about,
   i will double my effort to be an ally. 
with every act of cowardice portrayed as power,
   i will double my effort at courage.
with every act of sowing ugliness,
   i will double my effort to plant beauty.
with every act of victimization that occurs, 
   i will double my effort to defend the victims and confront their abusers. 
with every hurtful act i experience, 
   i will double my effort of compassion to start the healing. 
with every human-embodied tool of chaos wielded,
   i will double my effort to be an instrument of peace.
with every eruption of hatred spewed, 
   i will double my effort to release love into the world. 
with every attempt to create two,
   i will double my effort to show we are one. 

i may not be able to change this world alone, 
   but i will double my effort to make the place i live more beautiful.

we now have the unwanted opportunity to double a lot of our efforts. 
but may we do so.
each time. 

they way to defeat the darkness
   is not with more darkness. 

only light can do that. 
   only light can do that. 

Photo by Guilherme Stecanella on Unsplash

~ k