BE A CHANGE AGENT: LOVE OTHERS AS YOURSELF

Uniquely Created Divinely Inspired . . . You

Many of us have been raised to show and believe we are better or more worthy than others whether because of our position, our race, our money, our religions or any other enumerable characteristics often disconnected from our hearts. We are taught to justify our belief we deserve more: better treatment, better things, more respect because we are better or more than others. I grew up in an economically challenged family, we weren't allowed to say "poor." That was an insult to my parents. They had seen real poverty, poor people, in the hills of West Virginia. So, We were not poor! We had food, even if it was stuff discarded by the Market Basket. Poor people don't have food. We were better than that. When my first grade teacher in the project school I attended thought I would never learn to read and told my dad, he was furious He taught me to read by sight. When they told him the same about my brothers, he was again angry. We all learned to read. Today, I wonder how many poor kids are kept down by such judgments. Kept from fulfilling their potential? Judging others as less than is prejudiced thinking designed to show the speaker is superior. Imagine opening our minds by seeing everyone as equal to us, no less no more Now against that backdrop open your mind to see possibilities for showing that equality rather than doomsday prophecies. So instead of your children will never read and implicitly are doomed to a life of poverty, let's look for a way to change that to help them reach their full potential. Equal is enough. Treating others as equal without judgment is empowering for all. GUIDE YOURSELF FROM LOVE