Tikkun Olam

Tikkun Olam: A Jewish concept defined by acts of kindness performed to repair the world.

Repairing the Entire World?

This sounds ridiculous. Who could possibly repair the world? No one. And yet, every day, all over the world, there are people who are taking steps to repair one small part of our great big world.

We occasionally hear about a person, program or organization, that has found a path towards making the world a better place. Maybe it’s your favorite charity or maybe it’s an organization that helps tackle a disease that has affected someone you love. It could be the local homeless shelter or food bank, a teen or senior program. Millions of people are working to help millions of other people every. single day.

“Look for the Helpers“

This is a well-known quote from Mr. Rogers and, once again, Mr. Rogers steers us in the right direction. It’s not that it’s hard to find the helpers… but it’s hard to make space in our heads to find the good. It takes energy and effort. We are spoon fed, the bad, the negative, the criminal. If we want to find the positive and the healing, we have to assemble it ourselves from disparate sources.

It shouldn’t be this hard, but the truth is that bad and negative are easier to ‘sell’.

Share Your Favorite “Helper”

Please share with me your favorite person or organization that is ‘repairing the world’, one step and one day at a time. One of mine is Kiva an organization that makes microloans to people all over the world. Loans that enable individuals and groups to build their own future. The Kiva mission: to expand financial access to help under-served communities thrive.

I can’t wait to hear about yours.

Image credit: Tikkun Olam