Snow huddled in the creases of the Rocky Mountains.
A fat Marmot—like a groundhog, but unable to predict spring—chattered at us angrily.
My 23-year-old son, Cameron, and I were at the peak of a mountain, nearly 13,000 feet above sea level.
We sat on large grey rocks with a 360-degree panoramic view of craggy heights, sweeping tree lines and billowing clouds no higher than us.
On the way down the trail, Cameron and I talked constantly (we were too winded on the way up).
We talked about his job, my job, family, sport, relationships, politics and our favorite comedians.
It is cliché to say, but we bonded.
It was a quick boys’ trip to the mountains.
It was amazing.
That was last week.
Now, I’m back home and ready to resume the tedious work of trying to save a hurting world…
The World is Hurting
Homelessness is worse than it has ever been.
Politics are more divisive than ever.
Mental health challenges are more widespread than ever.
Every day a new book about a vulnerable population is banned.
I could go on, but I’m depressing myself and that’s not my point.
The world desperately needs saving.
It needs YOU to help save it.
What does this have to do with my trip to Colorado?
Everything.
How to Save the World
The only way to make a true impact is to fight for a better world over the course of a lifetime.
I wish a single election, action or donation could set everything right forever, but that just isn’t how it works.
The only way to sustain the fight over a lifetime is to remember why the world is worth fighting for.
There are two types of people who try to change the world:
1. Those who look for the beauty in this world.
They take pictures of the night sky and play cards with cheating toddlers and do the chicken dance at weddings and get dirty feet on barefoot walks at sunset and laugh with farting babies and play Hannah Montana music too loud.
They find beauty.
They are reminded why the world is worth fighting for
…which gives them the fuel to fight for the world.
2. Those who don’t.
They think that anything other than rage is hedonism. They live in their anger 24/7 and believe everyone else should live in anger too. They look at joy as weakness.
They fight but have forgotten why.
Starved of joy, they grow bitter and cynical…
And ineffective.
The irony is that those who forget why they are fighting for the world are unable to save it.
I beg you to actively look for the beauty in this world.
Let’s be clear: I am not admonishing you to take vacations to avoid burnout. (Though, you should take vacations to avoid burnout).
This is different.
As G.K. Chesterton said, “The world will never starve for want of wonders; but only for want of wonder.”
Find the wonder in this world.
Find the beauty in this world.
Then find the pain in this world… and fight it!!
The world is worth saving…
Peace,
Ryan
