Topic: Power
"You have to really be careful! Never know who you can trust!"
I've heard those words so many times. When they express concern for physical safety or health, we definitely have to heavily weigh how we may be putting ourselves at risk. Even so, parents wouldn't think of not running into traffic for the sake of saving their child who was in a dangerous situation!
What concerns me is that I hear these same words often when it comes to reaching out to empower others with monetary gifts.
Passing the Buck is an institutional game, we think. It happens because, out of fear, leaders do not take strong action that is obviously needed in order to protect the powerless or to increase the power of others who deserve more.
Yet, when I get honest with myself, I can easily catch myself playing the same game on a personal level. This is exactly what happens when I fail to face just how much power I hold in my own hands in comparison to most people in this world.
"You have to really be careful! Never know who you can trust!" As if what we hold in our hands is better kept in our hands than to risk saving a starving child or poverty-stricken family whose cries we refuse to hear.
Literally "passing the buck" is a risk. Just like writing or speaking to people we've never met about a serious concern. We don't know what the end result will be. Maybe we're just wasting our money or wasting our breath.
So? What good is our power if we don't give it away?
