The Touch that Will Change the World

Sometimes the most tender words of support come from unexpected sources, and when you are least looking for them.
Today, someone very senior in Natty's world of education, someone I have a great deal of respect for, sent me an email with the words, 
"...the bit about the touch that causes the touch...that's you!"

There followed this poem, by Kent Nerburn.  Read it slowly.

There is in each of us, no matter how humble, a capacity for love. 

Even if our lives have not taken the course we had envisioned, 

Even if  we are less than the shape of our dreams, we are part of the human family. 

Somewhere, in the most inconsequential corners of our lives, is  the opportunity for love. 

If I am blind, I can run my hand across the back of a shell and celebrate beauty. 

If I have no legs, I can sit in quiet wonder before the restless murmurs of the sea. 

If I am wounded in spirit, I can reach  out my hand to those who are hurting. 

If I am lonely, I can go among those who are desperate for love. 

There is no tragedy or injustice so great, no life so small and inconsequential, that we cannot bear witness to the light in the quiet acts and hidden moments of our days.

And who can say which of these acts and moments will make a difference? 

The universe is a vast and magical membrane of meaning, 

Stretching across time and space, and it is not given to us to know her  secrets and Her ways. Perhaps we were placed here to meet the challenge of a single moment; 

Perhaps the touch we give will cause the touch that will change the world.

These words remind me of an elderly lady I met on a bus once.  She wore dark glasses.  She told me her eyesight was failing and she had been to visit a famous landmark that afternoon to wonder at it's beauty.  She could only see contrast, but she said she felt so lucky that she had warning of the loss to come.  That she could go out and savour each last moment of sight, to remember for ever.  What courage.

I hope these words bring the boost that many of you need.  

You are all touching the world and bringing about change.

Our amazing children all deserve a decent shot at life because they too will create change in others.