Koan #36: Changing the World

It is the sign of a well-intentioned, but naive and unreflective mind, of those that state that they wish to “change the world.” For truly, “changing” the world is by no means a difficult thing, nor is it necessarily desired, as many evil men have indeed changed it. What is difficult, by contrast, is to change one‘s self—with God’s grace—both consciously and specifically from a proclivity towards evil to an intense revulsion towards it, thus striving for a moral perfection and holiness not often seen. And in doing this simple, yet certainly not easy thing, the world would be immeasurably changed in a manner both worthy and deserving of change.