“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” -- Anthropologist Margaret Mead, 1901-1978

The recent death of Pope Francis took me down memory lane to my junior high years when I joined the Catholic Church for a time. The man who gave me my first Holy Communion was Archbishop Timothy Manning of Los Angeles, California. Later he became a Cardinal serving as cardinal-elector during two conclaves which selected two different Popes – John Paul I and John Paul II. He passed away in 1989.

I loved my time in the Catholic Church. I visited various types of nunneries, pondering how I could best serve God. One of the most spiritual weekends I had as a teenager was during a school field trip to a monastery in Valyermo, California. In spite of such positive experiences, I chose another religious path in adulthood for various reasons.

Even though I didn’t remain in the Catholic faith, one thing is self-evident: over two thousand years of history and the lives of perhaps over a billion people globally have been influenced by its teachings and actions. European political and religious history felt its guiding force for good or ill, spilling over into the Americas and beyond beginning in the 1500s.  In fact, the first physical Christian church to be built in what would eventually become the United States of America was the Catholic San Miguel Mission church founded in 1610 in the area now known as Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The movement which became the Catholic Church of today, has had many branches, known by many names and in many nations.  Orthodox Christianity, Protestant Christians, Congregationalists, Baptists, Non-Denominational Christians, Hutterites, Amish, countless names and countless generations – all have their root in one of Margaret Mead’s small groups of “thoughtful, concerned citizens” who, indeed, changed the world.

This small group are known as the Apostles of Jesus Christ, a small group of  twelve imperfect men, among the leading devoted disciples of Jesus Christ in the days of Roman Judea, without internet, without phones or radio or television or even newspapers. It was their tireless travelling to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and their dedication to writing letters and histories that changed the world. The truth of their impact cannot be denied by any worthy historian of note. The world of today is what it is because of their committed concern for the salvation of humanity.

Next year, America will be celebrating the 250^th anniversary of the signing of its Declaration of Independence, another example of a “small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens” who changed the world. Fifty-four men who gave all they had for the cause of Liberty, pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.  Like the ancient Apostles, some lost their lives and the lives of family members.

American influence definitely re-focused the global political world from empire building to the concept of Liberty and Freedom of Conscience for every member of the human race in the short passage of time since the Revolution. It could be seen as the second phase of the movement led by the original Twelve Apostles, this time without regard to specific religious or political affiliation. 

The basic “small group of thoughtful citizens” is the family.  Within a self-contained, functioning family, its members learn how to work together, how to solve disputes, how to love one another, skills that are a strong foundation for leadership as members move into the larger world around them.

Can we change the world? Yes! In our homes and families, in our churches or other community organizations, the list is endless, and the causes are endless. Wherever these “small groups of thoughtful concerned citizens” gather together and focus their energies on providing solutions to problems and challenges, they will definitely change their world.

Business leader Warren Bennis said, “Every great group is an island… but an island with a bridge to the mainland.”  Reminds me of Alaska’s own Aleutian Islands, a long chain of what appear to be isolated communities connected originally by sea-faring skin boats or dog sleds on the ice in winter but now by better boats, airplanes, the internet and satellite technology.

 We don’t build our bridges to humanity the same way the original Apostles did, but we can reach out to “the mainland” in other ways not even imaginable to them. Email, mobile phones, videoconferencing, social media are the first things we think of but let’s not forget about reaching out to others in our real-world sphere of influence, those with whom we come into physical contact daily or weekly as we go about our lives, some who may share our concerns. 

Do not be discouraged as you go about trying to change the world around you.  God promises, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” (Isaiah 41:10)

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Originally published in the Faith column of the Frontiersman newspaper: Changing the World

In early December I came across an episode of the old black and white Twilight Zone television series called “The Changing of the Guard” (the last episode of Season 3). I have spent a lot of time thinking about it and watching it more than once.

This story is set in 1950. An elderly professor is being retired after 51 years of teaching poetry in a boy’s school in Vermont. He begins to feel as if he has made no positive contribution to the world around him and contemplates suicide. In this state of mind, he wanders out into the snowy winter cold, with his pistol in hand. Standing before a statue of famous educator Horace Mann, he raises the pistol to his head. At that moment he hears the school bell ringing. Puzzled, he wanders into his classroom. As he stands there, he watches the ghosts of former students take their seats, many who had passed away. They share the lessons he taught them, lessons in courage, humanity, and self-sacrifice. One was a United States Marine who died on Iwo Jima during World War II, receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor. Another was the first to die in the battle of Pearl Harbor, but only after he had saved seven men trapped in a boiler room aboard a United States Navy ship. A third was a medical scientist who had offered to take x-ray treatments in an early experiment to destroy cancer cells but ended up dying of leukemia anyway. There were others who shared the morals and values they had gained from their interactions with this humble teacher of boys who became good men.

It is quite a contrast to the chaos, anger, and hatred of the changing of the guard America has been experiencing during  the 2024 presidential election season and its aftermath. We could have used a few good men and women taught by such teachers.

Having now reached Senior Citizen Status in my own right, I think more and more about the changing of the guard in my family and in my sphere of influence. Have I taught them well enough? Have I passed on the values and lesson they will need to successfully navigate through their own lives? Only time will tell, as the professor found out in his vision.

The Old Testament Book of Proverbs is filled with gems of wisdom, in particular Proverbs 22:28 when it tells us to “Remove not the ancient landmarks”.  Ancient landmarks were standing stones set up to mark boundaries.  During a time of war, the Prophet Samuel “took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” (Book of Samuel 7: 12-13).  The word “ebenezer” means “stone of help” in Hebrew and is referred to in one of my favorite hymns “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (first line of the second stanza): “Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I come.” Identifying the important landmarks of our civilization is critical to keeping the peace in any Changing of the Guard.

The first landmark is the knowledge of a Divine Creator. It is the most important landmark of Christianity, one which is the key standing stone from which all other landmarks should be measured.

The Old Testament gives us the Ten Commandments as basic laws to live by, the first three relating to our relationship with God: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”, “Thou shalt not make any graven images (idols)”,  and “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” (Exodus 20:3 – 7).

1 Corinthians 8:6 states, “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the First Article of Faith states, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.”

Did you know that 49 out of the 50 state constitution preambles mention a supreme being by one of several names for God?  This includes Alaska: “We the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land, in order to secure and transmit to succeeding generations our heritage of political, civil, and religious liberty within the Union of States, do ordain and establish this constitution for the State of Alaska.”

There are other landmarks too numerous to list but these include faith, hope, charity, courage, compassion, humility, patience, and kindness.

The moral of the Changing of the Guard story is found also found Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”.

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Originally published in the Faith column of The Frontiersman.

Photo credit 1: “Changing of the Guard” Twilight Zone television series, Season 3.

Photo credit: Stones of Stenness