Can I Change the World?

Many on the earth today are watching the signs of the times and are concerned about all of the horrible things they see happening around them.  The problems seem so huge that they seem like an avalanche that is about to bury us all and we can do nothing about it.  We read and hear the prophecies of the end times, and believe there is nothing we can do about it.

I see and hear daily the great pain everyone is dealing with:  illness and physical pain; depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses causing such emotional pain; divorces and other painful relationship issues; abuse of all kinds; financial fears and loss.  I heard a story yesterday from a girl that was kidnapped by a neighbor as a teenager and kept locked in a room, right here in Utah County, for 6 weeks, until somehow they didn't lock the door and she escaped and found a cell phone and called her family.  I hear stories of ritual abuse, spousal abuse, sexual slavery, and more.  The stories are not only heard in my office--they are in my family, in my church, among my friends.  The world seems so dark that it feels like I am being swept in a tidal wave that will never stop.

But I refuse to believe that.  I feel that I can make a difference, that the little things I do can ripple out to increase love in the hearts of mankind, and bring a little light into the world.  I believe that there are many of us in the world doing what we can to be kind, compassionate and loving, and as more hearts shift, the collective consciousness will shift and things can change. 


Jonah was told to preach to the people of Ninevah, a violent people, to change their hearts or they would be destroyed.  They were so violent he was afraid of them and ran away, getting on a boat going in the opposite direction.  But after 3 days in the belly of the great fish, he chose to go preach to them.  He didn't believe they would change, but they did!  And they were not destroyed.  The prophecies of the future are based on what will happen if we don't change.  How many of us believe, like Jonah, that the "wicked" in the world will never change?  Do we not even consider that there might be a possibility of change?


I have not been called by God to go preach to ISIS, or the Taliban, or the murdering gangs.  There are those that have been called to do so and, like Jonah, are putting their lives in danger as they strive to change hearts.  There is a story in the Book of Mormon about four brothers who felt called to preach to their enemies, whom they had been at war with for a long time.  Their enemies were a violent people, and killed easily.  They were putting their lives at risk.  Many believed they were on a fruitless mission, as their enemies had been this way for centuries and would never change.


However, a very large group of their enemies changed their hearts, buried their weapons of war and vowed never to murder or go to war again.  It was not all of the wars that had changed them, but four young men going about serving them, loving them and teaching them.  Hearts can change!


I have not been called to put my life on the line to inspire others to change their hearts.  But I feel that it is important for me to do whatever I can to change my own heart so that the energy of my love and compassion can change the collective energy of all of us.

There is one responsibility which no man can evade,

that responsibility is his personal influence.

Man's unconscious influence is the silent, subtle radiation of personality,

the effect of his words and actions on others.

This radiation is tremendous.

Every moment of life man is changing, to a degree, the life of the whole world.

Every man has an atmosphere which is affecting every other man.

He cannot escape for one moment from this radiation of his character,

this constant weakening or strengthening of others.

Man cannot evade the responsibility by merely saying it is an unconscious influence.

Man can select the qualities he would permit to be radiated.

He can cultivate sweetness, calmness, trust, generosity, truth, justice, loyalty, nobility,

and make them vitally active in his character.

And by these qualities he will constantly affect the world.

This radiation, to which I refer, comes from what a person really is,

not from what he pretends to be.

Every man by his mere living is radiating either sympathy, sorrow, morbidness, cynicism,

or happiness and hope or any one of a hundred other qualities.

Life is a state of radiation and absorption.

To exist is to radiate;

To exist is to be the recipient of radiation.

--David O. McKay

This quote has had a profound effect on my life.  It has caused me to really go inside and see what I am radiating that is affecting the world--for positive or negative. 

Am I at war with myself?  Am I hating myself?  Am I treating myself worse than I would treat my children or my best friend?  Am I judging myself?  Am I judging others--my relationships, my neighbor, even ISIS and other groups who murder and rape and seek to control the world?  Am I hating rather than loving?  Am I judging another to be worthy or unworthy of my love, of my compassion, of my service?  Am I holding grudges and not forgiving?  Do I hold my financial blessings to myself out of fear that I will lose them?  Am I able to let go of offenses, seeing that they are not really about me, but only my reaction to what another has said or done which triggered pain that was already inside me? 
 

Do I see that I have the capacity to change my heart, or have I given up on myself?  Am I allowing myself to be all of who I really am?  Do I hide myself from others because I fear how they will judge me?  Do I allow myself to be who I was created to be and love myself in spite of my weaknesses, or do I hold myself back because of fear of my weaknesses?

The only way I can change the world is to change my own heart to be and act the way I would like others to be and act.

During the many years I have been a doctor, I have seen many people that desire to heal, but have not developed enough trust in their own power.  Therefore, as I recommend treatments that their insurance may not pay for, they believed they cannot afford it and therefore did not receive the treatment that might assist them in healing.  For many years I believed what I was taught, that it was important for me to charge what I was worth and people would figure out how to pay for it.

However, when I opened Diamond Springs Wellness Center four years ago, I felt my heart was directing me to change the world.  The world is in the middle of a financial crisis.  People were losing jobs and homes.  The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.  What could I do to change that?  All I can do is change my own heart.

The change I wished to see in the world was that love, charity from the heart, would allow those that had to lift those that had not.  So I chose to be the change I wish to see in the world.  As I opened my new practice I made a new policy, "Pay what you can honestly afford."  I felt if I were able to do all that I could for others, that love and compassion could radiate out and allow others to do the same in whatever way worked best for them.

I have to admit this has been a struggle.  The office has barely survived, and often bills have been paid late.  Sometimes I get paid late or not at all, and I definitely don't get paid a regular family practice doctor's wage, nor do my staff.  But miraculously the office is still open, and we are still able to provide that service, and many, many people have been served who would not have been otherwise.  It is such a blessing to see people's lives shifting because of their physical and emotional healing, and they are able to serve the world in ways they could not have before.

I do not share this to brag or to lift myself up, but to say that everyone has a gift they can give to the world.  Even the seemingly smallest act of kindness can make a shift.  I see so much good being done in the world, so much love and giving in ways that may seem impossible to others.  I know if we can believe in ourselves, if we can work on changing our own hearts, if we can work on stopping the war in our own hearts, if we can allow ourselves to let go of judgment of ourselves and others, if we can cultivate compassion for ourselves and others, if we can forgive ourselves and others, if we can find peace in our own hearts, the world can find love and compassion and forgiveness and peace!

Until we meet again,

Dr. Judi