The Movement

I once knew a young man,

Where he is now, I could not say,

But he didnt' have money,

or clothes that made him stand out in a crowd,

and he didn't have much friends,

but there were noteable things I remember about him:

He was a quiet man, but his words were always heard through the room,

because he was thoughtful and not quick to assume.

I knew this because I would ask him a question,

and he would sit, and think, and I would hear from him,

the next day or after that,

with his answer.  And it was an answer

that would in turn,

allow me to reflect about the same question that I have asked.

He was very slow in his movements,

he walked slowly and drove slowly,

and he made others angry with his attitude.

"Why do you move slowly?  The world is full of

movers and shakers!" I would tell him, and he would smile,

because he always smiled,

and ask me why I was moving so quickly.

Did I not enjoy the trees and the grass?

The people I walked with?

The sky overhead?

The beauty of the architecture,

of the giant buildings we passed in our stroll?

And I had never considered these things,

and was rightly ashamed.

He always smiled,

even when people would greet him with contempt or anger,

and always told me he loved everyone,

even those with short patience.

"How are you not angry with these fools?

Who judge and yell and who live through their anger!"

And he smiled, and he thought about

the words with which he would answer me with,

"Forgive these men, they are not angry

it is the world that makes them angry."

And I did not understand,

"How foolish!" I whispered.

But when he was gone,

I reflected, as he meant,

and found that he was right

on all accounts.

Who was this man,

who knew so much about the living life

so fully and so happily?

That he stopped to notice the beauty of things

he saw every day

and the ingenuinity of people

he talked with weekly?

I tried to live through him,

and years have passed,

and whether he lives or not,

he lives through that which he has impressed onto me.

And I think to myself,

"What if all men acted this way?"

There would be no hate,

no judgements,

no impatience or anger,

no ignorance or resentfulness,

We would be greater,

something transcendent beyond the first men,

I wish this movement upon the world,

and it can happen,

it is very possible,

if you be the change you wish to see in the world.

And this is the change I wish to see in the world.