A Manifesto for Change, by Dr. Chris Michaels

Words have power. Ideas start revolutions. Dreamers and visionaries can shift the axis of an entire planet. In 1962 when President John Kennedy gave his famous moon speech, it rallied a nation and set a standard higher than we’d ever achieved. And today, with the same audacity, I launch A Manifesto for Change---a new vision for our world.

The great anthropologist Margaret Mead said: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

We keep waiting for someone else to do it, for the politicians to write a bill and make a law. We keep waiting for religious leaders to bring peace to our world. We keep waiting, century after century, and yet, we still have a world that doesn’t match our spiritual values. Maybe we should stop waiting for someone else to come along and fix everything. Maybe we’re the ones we’ve been waiting for.

It’s no mistake; we’re alive and conscious at this time in history. Those of us born in the 20th century who will live out our lives in the 21st---we’re the visionaries of a new paradigm. We’re here to envision a future that many of us won’t live to see. Like Dr. King, who shared his vision of an America free of racism, we have an obligation to stand up and speak our minds, tell our truth, and demand better government and a kinder, more inclusive spirituality.

You don’t have to quit your job, move to Africa to help the poor. You don’t have to sell everything you own, give up your personal life and live in a monastery. Just do what you can where you are. Just contribute to life as one man who knew his worth—one woman who found her power! That’ll be enough to change the world.

A Manifesto for Change

There is purpose and meaning to my life. There is nothing accidental or negotiable about my uniqueness. Who I am and what I do matter to the next generation and the next, and the next.

I am here to leave the world better than I found it. I am one link in a chain of consciousness that stretches before and after my life for a thousand generations. Each link in the chain, each generation determines if the chain grows stronger and life gets better.

We are not just connected; we are co-creative partners in the healing of our world. Our choices determine everything. Our compassion and love for each other are all that matter.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for, and the wait is over. We are here to change the world.

2020, Dr. Chris Michaels 

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash