Ten personal decisions you can make to help foster the common good

by Aiden Enns | Published 8th June 2013 in Ways of Seeing | 1

Here is what I think is a great list of what middle North Americans can do to feel a bit more optimistic about the fate of the world, see the list of 10 things from Jim Wallis and Sojourners below. I’m not saying these will quickly, or measureably make the world a better place for those who suffer from the exploits of capitalism… how the heck is that possible anyway? I have no easy answer. But I seriously believe in the power of people who seek to do good, who draw upon spiritual resources to connect with their neighbours at home and abroad and to share what they can. – Aiden Enns

Here are ten personal decisions you can make to help foster the common good.

1. If you are a father or a mother, make your children the most important priority in your life and build your other commitments around them. If you are not a parent, look for children who could benefit from your investment in their lives.

2. If you are married, be faithful to your spouse. Demonstrate your commitment with both your fidelity and your love. If you are single, measure your relationships by their integrity, not their usefulness.

3. If you are a person of faith, focus not just on what you believe but on how you act on those beliefs. If you love God, ask God how to love your neighbor.

4. Take the place you live seriously. Make the context of your life and work the parish that you take responsibility for.

5. Seek to develop a vocation and not just a career. Discern your gifts as a child of God, not just your talents, and listen for your calling rather than just looking for opportunities. Remember that your personal good always relates to the common good.

6. Make choices by distinguishing between wants and needs. Choose what is enough, rather than what is possible to get. Replace appetites with values, teach your children the same, and model those values for all who are in your life.

7. Look at the business, company, or organization where you work from an ethical perspective. Ask what its vocation is, too. Challenge whatever is dishonest or exploitative and help your place of work do well by doing good.

8. Ask yourself what in the world today most breaks your heart and offends your sense of justice. Decide to help change that and join with others who are committed to transforming that injustice.

9. Get to know who your political representatives are at both the local and national level. Study their policy decisions and examine their moral compass and public leadership. Make your public convictions and commitments known to them and choose to hold them accountable.

10. Since the difference between events and movements is sacrifice, which is also the true meaning of religion and what makes for social change, ask yourself what is important enough to give your life to and for.

Finding the integral relationship between your personal good and the common good is your best contribution to our future. And it is the best hope we have for a better life together.

Jim Wallis is CEO of Sojourners. He is the author of On God’s Side: What Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn’t Learned About Serving the Common Good. Watch a video in which Jim Wallis discusses the theme of the book here