Changing Your Mind About Changing the World

In college, I spent three years serving as a resident assistant (RA) in freshman dorms. As an RA, I was expected to enforce university policy, let people into their rooms when they got locked out, assist with move-in and check-out for the year, host monthly events, and about a dozen other random tasks to help the dorm community function. 

My favorite part of the role, by far, was spending time getting to know the guys in the dorms and learning about their journey to university. Some were legacy admissions, meaning their parents had attended the university, where others were first generation college students like myself. Some came from wealth, others poverty, some from small towns and others from the big city. 

The one thing that united nearly everyone was an ambition to “change the world”! 

Of course, this is not unique to my undergrad, nor is it entirely exclusive to university campuses. However, having been on a number of college campuses for work and study at this point, I can attest that this is nearly universal. 

The problem is, this can be a dangerous, even deadly, mindset. 

My final year in grad school, I was in an invite only reading group with a brilliant philosopher and theologian. In one of our meetings the professor asked us what we hoped to do after graduation and one of my colleagues responded: “I just want to change the world!” 

Thankfully, she answered before I could because I might have said something similar. 

At first, the professor nodded. Then warned, “What if the world doesn’t need your changing? Who asked you to change things? What if the goal of life is to just be and ‘be’ well?”

It was as though a tectonic plate shifted under my feet. The world has so many problems and so many folks need help! How could one even consider not being a force for good? What about the moral arc of justice- it won’t bend itself will it? 

Thankfully, a discussion ensued about the ways we, as humans, seek to participate in the world and what we often mean by “change it”. I wanted to share a few of the takeaways of that conversation, which I’ve summarized here: 

When we set out to change the world, we often mean that we want to make an impact, get recognized for our power (our ability to shape the world to our will), or to bend other living (and non-living) things to our desires. 

We assume that we know how the world should be and that we have the ability to change it. Sometimes this is true and of course, as humans, we have a moral objective to act in accordance with virtue and duty. We are endowed by our Creator with rights and liberties, which others ought not infringe. 

When we act first as though things need to be changed, we risk changing them for the worst or, perhaps worse than that, leading others towards cultures and habits that are destructive. From dynamite to Hiroshima, the world is full of examples of inventions that were used in ways never intended by their creators who merely sought to “change the world”.  

So too are there examples of leaders changing the world for good, making our societies more just, beautiful, and good. There are times the world must change and leaders that dream of better days ahead. Before we can change the world, we must spend time in the world, becoming people of character who can discern our calling in the world. 

A good guiding principle I have found, to quote Wendell Berry, is to seek first to, “Treat those downstream of us how we want those upstream to treat us.” 

This applies to the natural world too. Though we can own property, our use and participation with Creation is that of creatures and artists. Meaning that we ought not destroy things that will one day be used for the good of others and should consider natural resources as bearing an intrinsic worth and dignity, not merely a utility. Using resources should always bare some consideration and deliberation, and be done with appreciation and gratitude. 

I am going to move from here assuming that at least some of what I said in my summation sounds interesting or convincing to you. What then might it look like to enter the university campus with a desire not to “change the world” but merely to enjoy and participate in it? 

What would it mean to go to work, seeking to make a positive impact but anchoring our work in the reality of our own ability to participate in the world? Are you setting out to change the world or to enjoy it? Is what drives you a desire for recognition and control or is it a love for Creation? 

Of course, I speak as a person of faith, using the words Creator, creation, and creature. However, this need not deter the non-theistic or agnostics among us. Even still, we ought to correctly locate our own abilities and position in the world and seek to make an impact out of positive intentions rather than purely selfish or short sighted places. 

For so long, I was operating, even with what I thought to be good intentions, with a desire to change the world that was located in my own ego and dislocated identity. In truth, I am more like a recovering addict than the radical convert who quit their vice cold Turkey. 

So my challenge to you is this: take an hour each day to walk outside, in the same place each day, and just spend time enjoying the world. Gift yourself some time to just be in the world without trying to change or alter anything. Try journaling some reflections throughout this month, even if it’s just animal sightings and fun things you noticed. 

 At the end of the month, spend time enjoying a meal with friends, after all life is better in community, and sharing about how this impacted you….. or  maybe complaining that this was a bust, who knows? It’s almost never a bad idea to get more movement and sunlight!

Give yourself the gift of freedom from having to change the world and just be a part of it. When things need changing that you can change, you’ll know. 

God, give me grace to accept with serenity

the things that cannot be changed,

Courage to change the things

which should be changed,

and the Wisdom to distinguish

the one from the other.

Amen.