Article September 9, 2019 Issue

Making a difference

Deborah Taubman

Originally published in The Christian Science Monitor’s Christian Science Perspective column, April 25, 2019.

Not long ago I went to Berlin with a choir I sing in. We joined well over one thousand singers from around the world along with the World Orchestra for Peace in performing The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, conducted by the composer himself, Sir Karl Jenkins. While in Berlin, I also visited the open-air art gallery of murals on the remains of the Berlin Wall. One message said, “Many small people in many small places do many small things that can alter the face of the world.”

This reminds me of a recent experience I had along those lines. I teach painting and drawing for adults at a university. The room we first used for the classes was in an old building off campus and up steep stairs that were not easy to climb, especially when carrying all the equipment needed for art lessons. When the first term ended, some students could not face climbing all those stairs again and decided they would probably not enroll in class again for this reason. My colleague and the administration agreed that in the future, a room on the ground floor would be better.

I was looking forward to the new room, but on my arrival for the new term, the colleague who had previously authorized the use of that room denied giving our class access to it. An argument ensued. I felt I had been let down.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

God’s plan exceeds expectations