The Greatest Change

The greatest change came about when Mark began to express his independence. He wanted to make changes in the way people around him lived. He wanted the village people to live in harmony with one another as one people as though they all had the same parents. He talked to his parents and his brothers and sisters about what he had in mind. He talked to everyone in the village who would listen to him. But he learned that even though a family may have a dozen or a hundred members, it will never have more than a few who can actually get along with each other. Mark learned this but still wondered what he could do to make changes.

As I look at the story of Mark, I can’t help thinking about all of the people that I have known in my life. How many of them did I get along with as though they were family? Some of course, but far too many I didn’t. This reminded me of a play I read by Herb Gardner. The title comes from how the main character tries to help his young nephew understand the wonder of being alive. “He said to the boy, everyday is like going to the circus. You remember how a little car always drives into the middle of the ring, and it looks so tiny, and then all of a sudden, all the sides open up and out pops a thousand clowns? You never dreamed that all those people could fit into such a tiny vehicle, but somehow they did.”

“This is the shape of life, my boy. There is always so much more to any event than we humans can see on the surface. Do not ever assume you know everything about anything. Everyday is a little car filled with a thousand clowns – learn to be humble and a friend of mystery and who knows how you will be surprised?”

Life is a mystery and filled with surprises that change our outlook on life everyday. We think that we have figured out all of the various aspects of a situation and everything will be, as we believed. Then someone comes along and asks us “did you consider this or that?”

As we look at life in this physical world, we can’t help thinking about all of the things that have taken place. We were born, a miracle in itself, and started school where we learned so many things.

Some of us even went to college or university, learning all the time. Life in this world is for us to learn how to get along with others and make changes we believe will be good for all. Consider all the possibilities for changes that we can make and then go out and serve others in such a way that will advance humanity.

We all want the things that Mark wanted. We all want to live together as one big happy family. We want to understand that we all came from one God and that we are therefore all brothers and sisters. But how many of us really consider this to be true?

As we look at life we know that there are so many possibilities for us. We understand that there are people in this world who do not have as much as we do. We understand that the greatest changes in life come about when we take charge of our life and do something that will make changes in our society and for our highest good and the highest good of others. Life really is full of surprises and that when the clowns emerge from their little car, there will even be a greater mystery expressed and a greater number of life surprises for us all.