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Take the Next Step

step

Like many of you, I participated this weekend in the Women’s March, along with 100,000 of my closest friends in Oakland and millions of others around the globe.

My heart and my newsfeed were glowing all weekend from the positive energy that defined this exciting event. This week I find myself asking the questions “What’s next?” How do I channel that momentum into positive and tangible change?

The event in Oakland, like many others, had a turnout that drastically exceeded what the event organizers anticipated. The group I was with stood around talking and cheering and waiting for an hour before we got to move, and even then it was very slow going. But maybe this is an apt metaphor for what the work of social justice is really like over the long haul. We are not always springing out of the starting gate, waving banners, taking the world by storm. Sometimes we are standing still, taking in our environment and our neighbors, somewhat frustrated, waiting for what is next, plodding along at best.

This fall I bought a card for myself that says simply: Take the Next Step.

It has become my mantra for 2017, in many aspects of my life, including our work at Braid. Yesterday in church we heard the story of Jesus calling his first disciples right out of their fishing boats. “Follow me,” he said. “Take the next step.” He doesn’t invite them to come change the entire world in an afternoon. He invites them to to take the first step, and then to follow faithfully.

We know that your work as part of a Braid team can often feel more like standing still than marching. We know you don’t often have big crowds cheering you on. But be assured that each step you take is part of a larger movement of empowerment and healing, starting with making a difference for one young person whose voice might not otherwise be heard. One step at a time.