Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the issues of our day? Or by the fact that there seems to be nothing that you can do about them?

I’ve heard many people bemoan the fact that there is nothing they can do about many of the issues of our time because they are too big, or complex, or political, or insurmountable. I have had those thoughts myself. I feel guilty because I have a hard time figuring out what I can do that will matter. Yet occasionally, I hear a story of how one person, a normal every-day person like me, has an idea or decides to take a chance, or suggests something to a friend not knowing how it will turn out, or just blurts out something. But in doing so the person sets in motion a whole set of eventsor experiences or ripples, like when you toss a stone into the water and the ripples go out in all directions.

In fact, I like another metaphor better. I think that we are all part of an intricate web of connection around the globe (like but not the same as the WWW) and when anyone even wiggles the web a little bit, the whole globe feels it. This is not my original idea but whoever said it deserves a lot of credit. The image alone is magnificent. Perhaps one person does not single-handedly change the world but gets something started wiggling and others pick up on it. So, what if one of us decided to be curious, or to take a small risk, or say what we are genuinely thinking during a conversation, or offer a hand as a spontaneous gesture?

There are myriads of ways we are called to act for the greater good. The greater good of a person, a place, an organization, a cause, nature, animals, or for the world. For the greater good means we do not act in order to get attention, to get power, to be elected, or to be contentious or to shame or fight. Instead, consider the idea that there is a Greater Good residing underneath all things already just waiting for us to bring it to the surface. What might happen if we took a risk to act for the greater good??

By now if you’ve read any of my essays you know that poetry and lyrics are dear to my heart. I have a poem for you that I hope will touch your heart. This poem speaks, in a surprising way, to the sometimes-lonely feeling you get when you wonder what only one voice can do. Or you wonder if you are the only one who cares about an issue. Poet Jessica Powers speaks to what one person can do and how joy spills over.

May you be inspired as we move to stories of wiggling the web…

Only One Voice

Only one voice
but it was singing
and the words danced and as they danced held high–
oh, with what grace!–their lustrous bowls of joy.
Even in dark we knew they danced, but we–
none of us—touched the hem of what would happen.
Somewhere around a whirl, a swirl, a pirouette,
the bowls flew and spilled,
and we were drenched, drenched to the dry bone
in our miserable night.

Only one voice,
but morning lay awake in her bed and listened,
and then was out and racing over the hills
to hear and see.
And water and light and air and the tall trees
and people, young and old, began to hum
the catchy, catchy tune.
And everyone danced, and everyone, everything
even the last roots of the doddering oak
believed in life.

Jessica Powers

I’ve decided to collect several of these small and large stories and share them with you, the reader, in hopes that they will connect with something in you that longs for more, for some participation in the larger scheme or web of things that could change the world in tiny ways. Or maybe it reminds you of times that you did wiggle the web and what that meant for you. Does that sound intriguing? I’ll start the ball rolling and let’s see what happens. Just to keep you interested, I’m going to intersperse these stories with my back story of how it all got started in me, but if I told it all at the beginning, I might risk losing you before we get to the stories of people who are wiggling the web. So bear with me😊

How people wiggle the web…

*A Ugandan woman living in the US, invited a small group of suburban women quilters to join her for lunch at her small apartment in the inner city. Out of that lunch, and hearing her story, the quilters eventually decided to create an African Women’s Voices quilt with their new friend. The group put a high price on the quilt at a subsequent fund-raising sale. The purpose of the quilt sale was to raise enough money to bring their friend’s three children to America. She had to flee her country after she had been tortured by her government –and she had to leave alone and quickly. The quilt miraculously sold for the price requested and all three children came to America. The quilt hangs in a special retreat center/meeting house in the city and its story inspires many who visit that place.

*The retreat center/meeting house I just mentioned is a healing place for a whole community. The dream of one man who quit his corporate job to live in the inner city, it offers hospitality to all who come. For instance, his house became the meeting place for a group of women who had experienced deep pain. Either their child had murdered someone or had been murdered by someone. They came together, supported each other in their grief, and became models of an astounding way to mend their broken hearts. One woman forgave her son’s murderer and they found ways to work together after he was released from prison. Their stories were told on national television and across social media.

*Two college baseball players whose team was ahead by one run in the bottom of the ninth inning watched as a player on the other team, with a player on base, hit a home run, thus winning the game. But the home run hitter tripped and was injured on her way to first base and couldn’t complete her trip around the bases. No one on the player’s own team could help her, according to the rules. So, the two opposing team players looked at each other and decided to help the injured player. They braced her between themselves and shuffled her to each base and back to home plate, thus helping her win the game, and sealing their loss. Their story went viral.

*One black woman, supported by strong convictions, training and friends, decided not to sit in the back of the bus in a highly segregated city which considered her unworthy of seats in the front of the bus. She was arrested and simultaneously helped ignite the bus boycott that helped to change the way the city treated blacks. Her act of courage was a role model for the whole civil rights movement of the 1960s. She has become a national heroine.

More people wiggling the web…

*A man of faith had a professional colleague who was serving a prison term and it became apparent that the inmate’s family really needed him to be present and out of prison for a family crisis. The man of faith offered to serve the remainder of his colleague’s prison term based on an old statute in the state that would allow him to do so. Three other male friends then offered to do the same. The offer itself was so unusual that the inmate was transformed by the power and love it represented, and after serving his term he founded an organization dedicated to working with inmates.

*A wealthy man decided to offer full and free college tuition to all sixth graders in a particular Harlem school. It was called the Dreamers group, after MLK’s speech, “I have a dream.” He adopted the class and invested in their lives, offering mentoring, and helping them through crises. As a result, half of the students went on to college, while others got jobs. The man invited other friends to join his efforts. Eventually many other programs started, based on this model and 16,000 students around the world were affected.

*A strong group of KKKers developed in Indiana in the nineteen twenties and the leader was a cult-like figure. He wanted to be president of the US and ruled with an iron fist. One of the things he did was rape women and one of those women had the courage to expose his behavior on her death bed. Her story was believed, and as a result the leader was deposed and the threat of the KKKers ended.

*A group of spiritual directors took a pilgrimage to a place in Spain that had been a holy place for a saint who they revered, and who lived in the fifteenth century. They were on their way to a chapel where he had experienced a vision and they got lost. As they were looking and feeling discouraged, an old man walking with a cane appeared and asked if he could help them. He guided them directly to the chapel. They were deeply relieved and grateful. When they turned to thank him, he had vanished. So sometimes the one who wiggles the web may not actually be a human but an angel.

Let’s backtrack just a bit and let me tell you about Tolstoy’s role in all of this and how this inquiry into people who made a difference got started in my life! If you want to skip this, although it is vitally interesting, just go to the * parts below and read more stories!

This idea got started a long time ago (in my thirties) when I decided to read biographies and autobiographies of people who were culture changers, in my opinion. I wanted to know what made them tick. And lo and behold, amazing and difficult things in their lives were the prime reason that they did the astounding things they did. I’ll just name a few of the people I read about, and you can add others to your own list: Mahatma Gandhi, Dorothy Sayers, Anwar Sadat, Lady (Randolph) Churchill, Buckminster Fuller, Eleanor Roosevelt, Nelson Mandala, Evelyn Underhill, Benjamin Tutu, Maya Angelo, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fast forward to today. For some mysterious reason, I recently encountered an old book by Leo Tolstoy called The Kingdom of God is Within You. I’d never heard of it, and it was intriguing to me since he lived in Russia as a Christian in the 19th century. In reading his book I came across the story he said was the inspiration to develop his philosophy of non-violent protesting. And because of this courageous writing, and even though this book was banned in Russia, it somehow got into Gandhi’s hands, and Gandhi was greatly influenced by it. Then, of course, Gandhi greatly influenced MLK Jr, Mandala, Tutu and thousands of others who were seeking to change culture and gain freedom non-violently. The web kept wiggling for more than a century.

Here’s a brief synopsis of how Tolstoy came to see how one person could ignite a non-violent protest aboard a train!

In the book he describes in depth how and why he developed his non-violent protest philosophy and why it was so vital in the landscape of his time. It was a time when landowners had power and peasants had none. He shows example after example of why there seemed to be no compelling reason for people to change a brutal system. So, nothing was happening. The brutality against the peasants was getting worse and was grievous to him.

To pinpoint his transformation, he describes a train trip he took coincidentally accompanied by soldiers and commanders about to brutalize and kill peasants over a local dispute with landowners. This was a repeat of brutal acts that had already been committed recently to peasants in another town. On the train, a middle-class woman who knew what the soldiers were doing, called out the soldiers and the commanders about how immoral and shaming their behavior was. Underneath this brutal behavior, most of those involved knew that it was wrong, but no one knew what to do nor dared do it. Once the woman voiced her disgust, one person tried to defend the behavior and another sided with her. In the end her voice opened the door for the commander to change his mind and not do anything brutal but to solve the problem without violence. And then that door opened for more people involved to choose other options. Slowly but surely the tide turned, and public opinion changed.

Two people, that one woman and Tolstoy, both had a role in a philosophy that we could say changed parts of the whole world. They each wiggled the web and did so for what was the greater good.

We don’t have to be Tolstoy to wiggle the web!!!

As you’ve seen already, I’ve started to collect stories of everyday people and well-known people who decide to do something, sometimes not even intentionally. Maybe even spontaneously like the woman on the train. But it changed things. What might be going on in us if we do what we can do to wiggle the web?

Maybe we are just curious.
Maybe we need an answer.
Maybe we are sick and tired of things as they are.
Maybe we want to do something good or kind.
Maybe we are trained in ways to make change for the common good.
Maybe we are following someone else’s example.
Maybe the timing is just RIGHT.
Maybe our moral compass or inner courage is inspired.
There are many motives or unconscious desires.

By the way, it is not just one person but small groups that, together, can wiggle the web and make important moves forward for an individual or for the common good. Sometimes it’s easier to work with others because the ideas flow better and there is mutual support. Margaret Meade famously said “never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.” So, some of my examples will be small groups or groups that support that one person.

Here goes…these are more stories of what one person, or a small group can do to wiggle the web!

More people wiggling the web…

*One black man changed my life by the way he wiggled the web. It started in such a simple way. I met him and his wife at an anniversary party of some mutual friends, and in that chance meeting we quickly became friends. But more than that, he became my pastor and mentor. He was and is my racial reconciliation teacher. I learned from him that “all reconciliation is relational” and it changed the way I see and relate to people of color. He helped change my world view. My life is richer, wiser, more compassionate, more creative, and hopeful as a result. And now I see myself as a reconciler in whatever ways I can be.

*An Irish priest went to live in the Vatican during WWII and his role was to rescue allied soldiers, civilians and Jews and bring them to freedom. This was both dangerous and risky. He put his life on the line most of the time since the Nazi regime was focused on stopping him. But he was safe when he could retreat to the Vatican. He had an extensive network of places to house people on the run, like farms, homes, and convents. Through his faith, his commitment, and a wide variety of these safe houses, he and his networks were able to save around 6500 people by the end of the war.

*A unique toy store in a small town in the Midwest has a special behind-the-scenes reason for being. The owner told me that the family thinks of their store especially as a healing and joyful place for families (from all over the world) who are having treatments or surgery at a famous nearby medical center. The toy store has a vast collection of historical toys, all kinds of current toys, several live llamas, a candy and ice cream shop, and best of all, a unique hand-carved carousel. It is a destination store. What I call a very “thin place.” Imagine that idea as your business plan!

*A well-known and multiple award-winning woman pro basketball player voluntarily stopped playing in the middle of her career. She had heard of a story of a prisoner falsely convicted of a crime, using unsubstantial evidence. So, even while she was still a player, she worked for several years to get him freed. Later she married him and now they work on prosecutorial reform. She is taking all she learned and gave on the court to new landscapes in which she can also make a difference.

More people wiggling the web…

*A couple was on the last leg of their trip home from Europe, and they were bedraggled and spent. One of them was even still recovering from an illness. They were sitting alone in a coffee shop at the airport when a woman they didn’t know walked up to them and offered them a large chocolate bar. She had apparently noticed their mood and decided to befriend them. She gave them the bar and left. The woman who received the chocolate later described this act as a “penny’s worth of kindness,” a phrase she had learned when she was seven, still remembered, and now had experienced with sincere gratitude.

*A TV personality who personified himself as everyone’s neighbor, eased his way into children’s hearts the world over. He did it by being honest, believing in kids, addressing hard issues many children face, and inviting everyone into his neighborhood. When he received the lifetime achievement Emmy, he asked the audience to be still for ten seconds to remember any people who had influenced them for the better. Even in his honoring, he made it about others. No wonder most kids, now fully grown adults, still recall whole episodes in the show that helped them navigate their world.

*A woman arriving at the airport early in the morning was tired, and longing for refreshment. She stopped at a restaurant “to-go” section and asked for a tea drink. The server said the refrigeration system was not working so she offered to go and get ice for her drink. The customer was so impressed with this largesse that she got to talking to the server and they had a personal conversation about the server’s family, the choice to treat people with kindness, and how she teaches her twelve children and grands the same thing. The customer told the server that she wanted to write a personal note of thanks and recommendation to the manager. It just so happened that the manager was there that morning, so the server got to hear the strong recommendation made on her behalf. It included the idea that the server be invited to train other servers, given her exquisite customer service skills.

*Two different CEOs showed how their principles of caring for employees mattered during down times in business. The first, who saw a downturn coming asked for employee input and said he would listen to any ideas that would permit a reduction in expenses without a layoff. The employees came up with a voluntary part-time policy that was readily accepted by employees and management. There was no need to lay anyone off. And when the business turned around many employees wanted to keep the policy, resulting in more people being hired. The second CEO voluntarily reduced his salary to $10,000 (his first post-college salary) and asked his employees to take one month off without pay. It was accepted as an alternative to layoffs and was such a caring gesture that several employees offered to take off more time so those who really needed the full-time work could stay on the job.

One last wiggle the web story

*OK, this is a little example of one way I wiggle the web. Like the song, “this little light of mine.” I chose an image of several angels from one of my quilted icons, had it photographed, and made it into little 2 x 2in hard cards. I put a brief inspiring message on the back about angels keeping us from stumbling, but I didn’t include my name or email address. I just give these angel cards out to anyone who I think could use one or who did something kind. The look on people’s faces and their reaction is my source of joy. I give them to servers, friends, counselors, kids, office managers, homeless people, police officers, librarians. Really anyone. No exclusions. It’s easy. Free. Artful (even if I do say so myself!). Intentional. Loving. Sacred.

Please think of stories you know of anyone wiggling the web, including you. And then share these stories with other people. Spread hope. Spill joy.

To close our sacred venture with life and world changing work, there is another thought that we need to embrace. This wiggling the web is difficult work sometimes and we can get weary, wondering whether any of the effort is worth it. Sometimes we think that those who wiggle the web with negative or evil intent are gaining momentum. Sometimes we want to give up or we think it’s all for naught.

That’s when community matters most. Fellow wigglers caring for each other, holding each other up, people from all over the world believing and holding the light, no matter what. The community helps us summon the courage and faith to keep moving forward with our work, knowing we are not alone-ever. This poem by Libby Roderick expresses that unity so well.

Cradle of the Dawn

Sunset in your country, sunrise in mine
Lay down your body, feel mine begin to rise
Sunset in my country, sunrise in yours
I feel you there in the dawn…

The forces facing us are terrible indeed
My hope may flicker in the night
But in the morning I will plant another seed
And while you sleep it seeks the light…

There are no promises that we will see the day
The dreams we live for will succeed
But I can promise you that halfway round the world
I’ll hold the light up while you sleep…
Libby Roderick

I leave you with these ideas. We are not alone. We hold each other up. A holy source of Greater Good undergirds us all. We will not be daunted. We can all wiggle the web. Let’s do it…

Janet Hagberg, 2023. Please pass this along