Being and Supporting Changemakers in Our Communities

I’ve written before about how American culture focuses on individualism. In one post, I even called individualism a sin. Yet we are all products of our culture, and I realize that I still tend to emphasize individualistic responses to social issues. For example, last week, I focused on the individual work we could do to spread hope this Eastertide in a world that seems determined to stay in Good Friday.

Fortunately, I also get reminders of how we can be more effective changemakers when we work together. Through the miracle of communal networks and modern electronic communication, I’ve been supporting Erin Tamayo, a Presbyterian minister, educator, and change agent as she launches her ALAS Initiative blog. Her work is about educating and empowering people to work together for change.

I encourage you to read this post to learn about what ALAS means and what Erin intends for this community she’s building. Her intention inspires me: “bringing diverse people together to work toward common goals and empowering them to create positive change.”

As I’ve prayed about her work, I also realize that focusing on communal aspects of change is more aligned with the way Jesus thought and lived. The people who followed him were even more powerless than we are. After all, they couldn’t vote to remove the Roman Emperor. They had to band together to seek change. We need to do the same.

Of course, the way we do this has changed radically since Jesus’ time. I still haven’t met Erin “in the flesh,” but in this well-networked world, we can connect and become changemakers in our communities without needing to be in the same room—or sitting on the same hillside above the Sea of Galilee.

One way I do that is through this blog. We have formed a small—and vibrant—community here. I know, because of your responses over the years, that I’ve helped educate many of you on various social issues facing our country and our world. I’ve also witnessed your many commitments to learn more, to speak up, and to work for change.

Please take a few minutes to read about Erin’s initiative and pray about how you might respond to her invitation to become Wings for Change together. (She also recently posted about May Day solidarity if marching for justice is part of your call….)