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Campus Ministry

Taking One Step

By Sue Terbay

If you don’t like the way the world is, YOU CHANGE IT! You have an obligation to change it. You do it one step at a time. --Marian Wright Edelman

Soon on campuses across the country students will be returning or venturing out for the first time on their journey to higher education. I love watching from my office as the campus once again becomes alive with young people – their energy, their voices, and their hopes for the future. I work in the Center for Social Concern at the University, so most of the students I encounter are filled with a desire to be a caring force outside their academic world. They become involved in social justice issues that are current, sign-up for trips to inner-city projects both local and across the country to work with the poor or to the rural country to learn about agriculture and the environment. Some even immerse themselves in the culture of another country for a few weeks and come home with a different perspective of the world they live in. They want to make a difference and they are learning that to make a difference and to help change the world, it beings one step at a time.

Edelman's quote above is a powerful challenge. Lately it seems that our world suffers from a loss of integrity, truth and compassion for each other. We tend to resort to a "not my problem" attitude or a "what can I do?" frustrated mindset when overwhelmed with the world condition. Edelman poses a challenge not only for young people but for all of us. 

We often fail to realize how much power we have.  It is our obligation to honor God with our gifts. We can be the good stewards of the earth and be generous and caring of the poor and forgotten. We can be the example of tolerance, understanding and love for all God’s children. It begins with one step.

Let us reach out and hold hands as we take that first step with whatever gifts and sacrifices we have to change our world and make it the world we dream it could be.

By Susan Handle Terbay

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