I stumbled across this.
This simple photograph is so loaded. It was taken towards the end of my first THON weekend(For any non-Penn Staters, THON is the world's largest student run philanthropy project which raises money to fight pediatric cancer. Fundraising culminates in a 46 hour dance marathon.) Now, for those of you not too familiar with THON, I truly believe that it is the greatest display of the human spirit. It is humanity connected. People inspiring each other, and literally leaning on each other for strength when their bodies want to quit. It is a circle of inspiration, love and hope.
We should never be ashamed to ask for a shoulder to lean on. We are not as different as we perceive ourselves to be. We are all just people, trying to exist in happiness. Yet sometimes, the world gets a little too heavy to hold on your own. THON provides not just one shoulder, but thousands of shoulders.
And today, on Martin Luther King day, I cannot help but think about the value of the kind of love and hope that THON provides; or of the miraculous strength that comes in numbers. However we must never underestimate the power of the individual. MLK had a message of love and peace that we are still striving towards. He was one man. Individual acts of love truly add up, and can trigger such a domino effect. His message reverberates 43 years after his assassination; and we, so fresh into the new year with new acts of violence, hatred and cruelty haunting us, can hear his message more clearly than ever. We must put this self-made separation of humanity behind us. Connect with humanity by showing love and kindness towards humanity.
This all brings me back to my dream of every human on this planet holding hands...providing a pulse of love to a stranger in need. But when I look around the world, I see this pulse is already traveling. When it reaches you, don't drop it. Pass the pulse. Share the love.
No comments:
Post a Comment