It's very easy to feel powerless in the face of sweeping world events. We're not the decision-makers, we don't hold public office, and far too often those who do hold public office couldn't give a damn about what we think. And living, as many of us do, in a staunchly conservative environment, it is easy to feel isolated... Like there is nothing you can do and noone around you who even cares about the same things you do.

But when we look back on history, we don't see the true change being wrought by the elite, the decision-makers, or the "great men". What have "great men" accomplished but to embroil us further and deeper into war and injustice? Those at the top aren't the ones who create lasting change because it is not in their interests to do so. Instead, it is always those at the bottom who strive towards peace and justice.

It was an old black lady in the deep south who started a passionate civil rights movement by doing nothing more than refusing to give up a seat on a bus. It was a simple Hindu teacher who defied an Empire by doing nothing more than going down to the sea shore and collecting salt. It was ordinary people - workers, students, teachers, preachers - in Denmark who through simple non-compliance brought the Nazi war machine to a screeching halt in their country. And it was a backwater preacher from a backwater of the Roman Empire who hung out with the dregs of society that affected the world more than anyone ever has.

True and lasting change happens when we ourselves change; when we become the change we wish to see in the world. Movements begin when individuals at the bottom decide to live uncompromising and outspoken lives that witness to the power of peace, charity, solidarity, humility, and most importantly, love. It begins when we refuse to return violence for violence and hate for hate. It begins when we proclaim our solidarity with the marginalized and the oppressed, and when we simply refuse to comply with those who have power over us. It begins when we claim our dignity in the face of powerlessness and work towards the creation of a just and equitable society through the choices we make every day.

"Think globally, act locally" isn't just a pretty saying... It's the only thing we CAN do. It's the only way we can affect a war on the other side of the globe: by not buying American and supporting the American economy, by seeking out alternative media, by reducing our use of the very petrolium which is driving the War on Iraq, by supporting relief efforts for the people of Iraq, by burning our draft cards and by sitting in defiant silence or marching in noisy objection. We affect change by making the "great men" know that they have not conquered our hearts.

And we do all this because of hope... Because of conscience... Because of justice... Because of that innate feeling within all of us that there is something more, some principle of spiritual growth which is greater than any pain, than any war. We do it because we can't help but do it, even as we are made to feel powerless and alone. We do it because it is Right.