How many of us are waiting for someone to give us permission to at least try something truly great? To do something serious about any one of the urgent problems that we face, either as a person, a nation, or the world? To create some great of art? To go back to school?
Who can give us permission, anyway? Those who believe as I do think that God already gave us all the permission we need to do good things, whether it's taking care of our families, taking care of the planet (v. 15), or any other good thing that we see needs to be done. In fact, I know of no spiritual tradition that says otherwise.
Go for it. Do the wonderful thing that you know needs to be done. Invent the invention. Create the art. Solve the problem. Like the song goes, "Feed the babies who don't have enough to eat / Shoe the children with no shoes on their feet / House the people living in the street."
You've sure got my permission.
[The photograph is available on Picasa Web Albums here. I found it on the blog "N=1," by David Martin, who obtained it from Flickr here, where the artist, Thomas Hawk, gives further details. This artwork is the property of Thomas Hawk, who retains all rights to the image.]
Text Copyright 2010 Mark Koltko-Rivera. All Rights Reserved.
