Kathy Headlee Miner, founder of Mothers Without Borders, shared how she believes each person has the capacity to change the world in her Education Week class on Tuesday, August 16.
Miner began her class by posing the question, ‘What do you want to see more of in the world?’
“If you’ll be serious about asking yourself that question, you only need to look as far as you,” Miner said. “Expanded awareness can accomplish anything so as you expand your awareness of something, you can accomplish anything. That’s how powerful you are.”
Miner addressed many human concerns, such as why it can be difficult to be still, present and open one’s heart to the world.
“Our world is noisy, but brothers and sisters we also are noisy,” Miner said. “We’re noisy in our heads, we’re noisy in our hearts we’ve taken this concept of being anxiously engaged and we believe that it means ‘I have to be doing something every single second of every single day’ and that isn’t true.”
After sharing the importance of being at peace with oneself, Miner expressed the importance of having a relationship with God in order to make a positive difference in the world. “We need to have time to commune with the divine,” Miner said.
Miner shared an example of what it means to change the world. While Miner and her friend were working in Romania in 1994, Miner purchased a large rug from a Romanian family. She realized it would be difficult to transport home, but she felt the money from the rug would greatly support the family and she loved the rug.
Later on the trip the two women stopped in London before heading home. After getting off the tube in London, the women thought they’d survived the worst of the rug transportation. It was then they found the escalators were out of service and to reach the road they would have to carry their suitcases, two 70 pound bags each, as well as the rug up four flights of steep stairs.
The task seemed impossible, but Miner began carrying one suitcase to the road while her friend stayed with the luggage below.
Once she arrived she saw a man with many piercings, body art, a boombox and tall orange hair in a mohawk fashion. Her first reaction was that she couldn’t leave her suitcase unattended with this man here. Sensing the panic she was feeling, the man came over and asked if he could help her carry the rest of the bags that she may have. He then proceeded to carry all of the bags as well as the rug up all four flights of stairs.
Miner said she felt an absolute surety that he was her brother that day.
“I made a commitment on that day that I was going to change how I see people, I’m going to open my heart, I’m going to work a little harder at this,” Miner said. “I know that on that day his acts of kindness changed the world, because he changed my world.”
Just as this man changed Miner’s world, she feels everyone has the ability to change the world.
“You have to chose whether you’re going to add more toxic pollution by way of thoughts, words and actions or whether you’re going to be someone who spreads the earth with light, truth, hope, kindness, joy, mercy and generosity.”
According to Miner, changing the world begins with changing ones self. Much of this is accomplished by coming unto God.
God knows what is going to happen, he has a plan and his plan works with human weaknesses, Miner shared. “Our journey of discipleship must include an intentional increase in our trust in God. Not just in the macro but in the micro … Do you trust him with you, do you trust him with your heart?”
