In 1989, Bryce Courtenay, an Australian author, published the novel “The Power of One.” The book was an immediate bestseller. It was translated into 18 languages, made into a movie, and appears on countless high school and college reading lists. Set in South Africa during the 1930s and 1940s, “The Power of One” is the story of an orphaned English schoolboy who overcomes bigotry and bullying to prove that one person can make a difference in the world.
It is the story of an average person who worked hard, faced life’s difficult challenges, persevered against all odds, and ultimately achieved a kind of moral victory. It is a universal story. It is my story. It is your story. It is everyone’s story. No one is spared. No one is left out. Every life is a mixture of love and loss, falling and rising, triumph and tribulation.
During these troubled times, how can one person make a difference? In the midst of so much discord and division, how can you make a difference? In the midst of so much suffering and suspicion, how can I make a difference? In the midst of so much cruelty and indifference, how can we make a difference together? How can we heal God’s family and finally build the beloved community?
In “The Power of One,” Bryce Courtenay writes: “Inside all people there is love, also the need to take care of the other man who is his brother. Inside everyone is a savage, but there is also tenderness and compassion.” Let’s begin here. Even now, there is still love. Inside every person, there is still a little bit of love that can transform the sinner into a saint. Inside every person, there is still a little bit of love, compassion, and an instinct to care for others. Inside every person, there is still a little bit of love than can make all the difference in the world.
The challenge is to put our love to work. The challenge is to look beyond red and blue. The challenge is to tune out loud and angry voices. The challenge is to transcend the madness and engage our brothers and sisters with joy, humility, and generosity. When we are joyful, we see others not as objects of scorn and judgement, but as new friends and neighbors. When we are humble, we seek to overcome our own faults rather than condemn the shortcomings of others. When we are generous, we give what we can to forge community and solidarity in our small corner of the world. I can do it. You can do it. And surely, we can do it together. After all, there is strength in numbers!
Leo Buscaglia once wrote: “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” This power can change a life. It can change the lives of the people we love. It can change the lives of the people whom we find hard to love. And it can transform the lives of the strangers and sojourners whom we meet along life’s way.
This is the power of one: when we do our best to love, forgive, make peace, and bring people together. Now. Today. Tomorrow. Everyday. The Beloved Disciple reminds us: “Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action (1 John 3:18).” When each of us does our best to exercise the power of one, we can build better families, better friendships, better workplaces, better neighborhoods, and ultimately a much better world. In this way, we can heal God’s family one person at a time, one wounded soul at a time. Now more than ever, it is time to exercise the power of one! Let’s all go to work!
Brother Patrick is a diocesan hermit and associate minister in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport. He can be reached at brpatrick@ccgronline.com.
Midweek Musings rotates among Cape Ann clergy.