In section 55 of the document it is said that, "From day to day, in every group or nation, there is an increase in the number of men and women who are conscious that they themselves are the authors and the artisans of the culture of their community. Throughout the whole world there is a mounting increase in the sense of autonomy as well as of responsibility."
The future of the world is in our hands. We have the power to make a difference, to learn from each other, to grow in unity and in communication with one another- we just have to take the initiative to do so. We can take ourselves from what I like to call the "John Mayer mentality" of just waiting on the world to change...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBIxScJ5rlY
To more of a "union is strength" mentality, where we can understand that through this intercultural dialogue and communication, we can grow!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnYc16tgwwI
Even today, Pope Francis tweeted encouraging this dialogue in the context of how divisive this Presidential election was for our nation.
According to Gaudiem Et Spes, this shift in consciousness and awareness has already occurred in the vast amount of Americans! We realize that we've got the power!
Now we just need to have the courage to USE that power and make a difference. So keep an open mind, get out there and listen to others without judging first. After all, Christ gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason! We need to listen more than we speak. The second you actually star listening to the other person in a dialogue, you will find you actually have more in common than you think. Make an effort to learn something from that conversation and apply it to your own life to have a fresh and new outlook on the issues that you have seen through the same lens for so long. In the words of Gaudiem Et Spes, there is a kind of "global responsibility" in our hands. Let's not look past it. Embrace it! Together, we can do this.
This is awesome, you incorporated so many different images and platforms of media to enhance your post. Simply using images is a great use of intercultural dialogue, because everyone can understand it. I think this is a powerful message that we can all learn; change does not just happen, but we create change.
ReplyDeleteGandhi’s quote is so powerful and relevant because we are still figuring out how to live it out. I love the quote from Gaudium et Spes (I used it too) as I think it really captures the hope that the world an change and it is in our hands. A lot of people outside the faith will say that if God already knows what will happen and can do whatever he wants then do we really have any power over our world. But we do because we believe as Catholics that free will allows us the ability to make our own choices, even the wrong ones, to make the world a different place. And you are right. God gave us two ears and one mouth meaning that hearing must be more important and sometimes harder for us to pay attention to. If we work together though, we can positively change the world; we just have to be open to change and others opinions.
ReplyDeleteI agree that if we want change to happen we cannot just sit around waiting for someone else but we have to be willing to do something ourselves. I really liked how you tied your message together with Gaudium et Spes, a quote from Gandhi, and other media. The video with the ants was quite cute while illustrating a very important point.
ReplyDeleteI loved this post, great incorporation of different media! I really liked how you connected Gaudium et Spes and Pope Francis' words (in tweet form) on inter-religious and intercultural dialogue; this perfectly illustrates how the Church is continuing work on the same issues throughout time.
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