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I recently spoke to a class of 4/5th graders who had read my children’s book, Claude and Medea. The book is about 12-year-old kids who are inspired by an eccentric substitute teacher (really a humane educator) to become clandestine activists in New York City.
After the children solve the mystery of a rash of Manhattan dog thefts, they establish Peace Power, a group dedicated to righting wrongs, whether to people, animals, or the earth.
When I spoke to this particular 4/5th grade, the students were confused by the name Peace Power. I asked them if they liked it. They didn’t much. They were flummoxed by the word “power.”
I’ve been pondering this. In our culture we tend to associate power with “power over” others. Those in power have control over the fate of other people, animals, the environment, the economy, the media, etc. Those who are disenfranchised, poor, disabled, etc., lack power. But power needn’t be perceived solely in this manner.
I very consciously named the youth group in Claude and Medea Peace Power because I wanted to juxtapose “peace” with “power” and remind readers that acting peacefully is a powerful act, and that groups that work for, and ultimately achieve peace demonstrate the best aspects of power. To harness this kind of power, we must summon such virtues as wisdom, compassion, integrity, honesty, and perseverance. In so doing we cultivate our power to create positive change in ourselves and in the world.
~ Zoe
Filed under: humane education Tagged: | "Claude and Medea, humane education, power
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Power is the ability to change the world. Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Bahá’u’lláh all changed the world. Harriet Beecher Stowe changed the world with her book. Mother Teresa changed the world with her selfless love. Martin Luther King Jr. and Hitler both changed the world with their charismatic speech. Martin Luther King Jr. and Hitler had the same powerful gift; the powerful gift of charismatic speech. Martin Luther King Jr. chose to use the power of charismatic speech to lead us into an era of peace and love, while Hitler chose to use the same exact power to torture and kill millions of people.
We are afraid of power because we misdefine the word “power.” Sick men demonstrate their “power” by torturing women, children and animals. But that is not real “power.” When a man hits a woman, that is not real “power.” That is one sick man’s definition of the word “power” but my definition of the word “power” is quite different. I define the word “power” as the ability to create change. Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr. all changed the world without a single act of violence. Gandhi changed the world by fasting. Mother Teresa changed the world by offering a compassionate hand to those whom others would not touch. Martin Luther King Jr. changed the world by making charismatic speeches. Neve Shalom and Seeds of Peace are changing the world by creating peaceful relationships between Israeli and Palestinian children, in simple, unexceptional environments. Zoe Weil is changing the world by writing books and teaching children to be conscious of how their decisions affect the world around them. My neighbor is changing the world by taking a paper bag instead of a plastic bag at the check out line. My brother is changing the world by bringing a meal to someone who won’t be able to get a break from work for many hours.
I change the world every time I make a choice. Every word I speak changes the world. Every purchase I choose to make or not make changes the world. Every letter I type changes the world. Every single choice I make changes the world, and that is power. Power is the ability to change the world. Every single person has the ability to change the world, and every single person is changing the world every single time they make a choice — now I know that I have no choice — I will, inevitably, change the world every single time I make a choice, but I do have the ability to chose constructively or destructively. Will I choose to change the world for the better? Will I choose to make constructive or destructive decisions?