As famously noted by ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” No one travels a thousand miles in a single, giant leap but only by taking the first right step and then the next and the next and the next. Great accomplishments are not achieved all at once; they are made up of many, many small deeds.
Twice recently I was reminded of this simple truth. On a Friday afternoon, I, along with Dr. Ha Vo, visited Bhante Dam Phommasan, the Buddhist monk whom our Mercer On Mission team had recently fit with a prosthetic leg. You may remember that he lost his leg while participating in the 2,300-mile Walk for Peace from Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C. For over 15 weeks they walked in heat, rain and snow to witness to the urgent need for mindfulness, peace, compassion and unity.
The peace walk made a surprisingly huge impact. People across the U.S. and around the world were following the journey on social media. When they passed through cities and towns, they were met by crowds of enthusiastic well-wishers, cheering them on and embracing their message. They finally arrived in Washington on Feb. 10 and were greeted by over 4,000 people, standing in sub-freezing temperatures, carrying flowers, holding signs and welcoming their message of peace. This inspiring journey was made one step at a time. Each small stride was important because it led to the next.
Gathering outside of the National Cathedral, Bhikkhu Pannakara, the leader of the peace walk, urged the crowd to carry on the meaning behind the walk, “so we can have peace for ourselves and change this world together.” How could the crowd carry on the work for peace? Could they launch their own 15-week walk across the U.S.? Or instead, could they each take that first small step toward peace, toward kindness? He wasn’t imploring them toward a thousand-mile journey, only toward the first small step of compassion … and the next … and the next.
Phommasan was a living witness to the wisdom of Lao Tzu.
The next day on Saturday, I had the privilege of speaking at a service commemorating the 32nd anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in which 1 million Tutsi were brutally slaughtered in the period of 100 horrific days. Along with the heart-rending stories of survivors, describing the unspeakable atrocities they suffered, there were passionate pleas for peacemaking, ensuring that this kind of savagery would never happen again.
During the commemoration service, Rwandan native and Mercer professor, Dr. Etienne Musonera, insightfully commented that the genocide did not begin with the 100 days of killings; it began months and years before with many smaller acts of hatred that eventually led to the genocide against the Tutsi. He urged us all to reverse the violence of the genocide with relentless and resilient acts of forgiveness, empathy and love.
These two, very different experiences, a peace walk and a genocide commemoration, converged for me to underscore the truth that Lao Tzu understood centuries ago. Long journeys are completed one step at time by taking the first step and the next and the next and the next. In the same way, a new and peaceful world is built, not out of a singular grand triumph, but out of one small act of kindness, followed by another and another and another.
Too often we wring our hands in frustration as we see the corruption, cruelty and chaos in our world that appear overwhelming. We feel powerless because we cannot defeat the massive systemic evils that cause so much innocent suffering. We feel paralyzed because we cannot walk all the way to complete peace and justice, which seem so intimidatingly distant. And so, we give up.
Never give up!
The good news is that we each can make a difference! The path of peace is made one stone at a time. We can each take a first small step in the right direction and then another and another. A simple act of kindness, a generous word of encouragement or forgiveness, the including of an outsider, the welcoming of a stranger, the staunching of gossip, the helping of someone in need and a thousand more small steps like these are the way we begin to make our own peace walk and change the world.
At Mercer, everyone majors in changing the world, don’t we?
Let’s walk together …
