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Don’t change one thing by one hundred percent –
change one hundred things by one percent.

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Social Media gets a lot of bad publicity.  Rightly so.  Just as guns do.  And drink.  And drugs.  And political leaders.  And …

The list of stuff we think bad – that undermine a selfless connected loving way of life – is endless.

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Over the weekend I was “shared” a Facebook post.  It happens a lot.  Usually someone somewhere is trawling for names and email addresses so they can be used against us honest god-fearing folk.  Scam stuff.  Bad stuff.   We fear losing everything.  We see others who have.

This post described someone who has terminal cancer.  An untreatable cancer.  One that will kill this twelve-year girl.  Devastate a young family.  A family whose mother had taken her twelve-year old daughter to the doctor because of persistent headaches and been told this young human being would die.  It kicks a great big hole in so much.  And then somewhere in all the grief and tears someone found a couple of experimental treatments in the USA.  But at a cost way beyond any normal family’s capacity to fund.

Now at this point I was already remembering the occasional scam where a sob-story like this was later found to be a scam.  Another example of bad people using social media to do bad things to us good folks.

But this one came with a twist.  A group called “The One Pound Warriors”.

A really simple but mind-blowing idea that a friend of this twelve-year girl had come up with.   An idea from an(other) innocent twelve year old (who is a genius I think): to start a public Facebook Group – a group – that when membership reached 300,000 ordinary people like me and you – would all be asked to donate £1.

One very small and easily found £1.  That’s all.  That’s is the idea.  Genius!

An amount of money so many of us spend every day without thought.  An amount we  spend on stuff we don’t need, don’t really think about, nor every really miss.  But cumulatively …

£300,000 pays for a whole year’s (experimental) treatment AND flights back and forth to/from the USA for treatment.

On it’s own – nothing – just one small coin.  But cumulatively a massive life-changing (and hopefully life-saving) sum AND raised in the blink of an eye.

The One Pound Warriors.

Don’t change one thing by one hundred percent –
change one hundred things by one percent.

And at this point – a mere 60 hours later – not only have 100,000 members joined up … But almost £200,000 has been already donated (by those who could not wait).  And all through Social Media.

This bad thing we slate so much and so often.  Yet look NOT at “the power of social media” …. Look at The Power of you and me – ordinary people – using “social media” to change lives.

(this post is not an appeal for money – although the links are given below if you want to)

This post is because I want to remember where the real power in this world lies.

Not in big corporations, nor in politics, nor even the institutions we usually allow to dictate how we think, what we think and when we think.   Who leave us feeling helpless.  Which evaporate hope.  That lead so many to look up and say God Help Us.  And then find we are arguing with those who disagree.  Or who follow a different God.  Or who don’t believe what we believe.  Who believe “loving God” means killing those who don’t.

The One Pound Warriors.  Would NEVER work without social media.

Because the truth is that WE determine what WE make of “stuff”.   WE have it within US to save OURSELVES.  Just as WE have it within US to throw it ALL away.   WE – the ordinary people of this planet – have more power than WE ever think possible.  And so often we each hand-wring hope out of our own living – we live hope-free dried-husks of life.  And fill-up instead on sin / evil / hard hearts / hopelessness.  We hand-wring and hand-dry ourselves free of love.  We think we cannot love anymore.

The One Pound Warriors.

Has just put paid to that self-deception.  100,000 members and counting in 60 hours puts paid to that self-imposed-victim-mentality.   Change one thing by one percent reminds me how easy Love really is.

Love that may not cause this young twelve-year old to live decades more.  Love that may yet cause such pain in this twelve-year old’s family. 

But Love that is The Journey.  Love that is of The Moment –  Love that NOT about the outcome or the conclusion.  But Love that changes each of us (just when we think there is no point).  Love that is real and powerful and needs no words to connect all of us.

We talk of God and fall into separate camps and tribes and then fight our own created and chosen turf-wars.

And then We Are Love and we unite … there are no turf wars  … and we each change.  First me and then others.

Isn’t that what the bible teaches – isn’t that what the secular world teaches – isn’t that we all hope for and yearn for and despair of ever seeing in our own shitty world?

And all it needs is Love. 

Stripped of our “necessary and appropriate” created additives of “should must right wrong them and us”.

I want to remember …

Love IS power!

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Links as promised:
Facebook (public) Group: The One Pound Warriors
Go Fund Me (UK based): Help Lily battle Brain Cancer
PayPal: martinwythe@live.co.uk

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