Being the Change

"Those who think-and their name is legion-that they know how the universe could have been better than it is, how it would have been if they had created it, without pain, without sorrow, without time, without life, are unfit for illumination. Or those who think-as do many- "Let me first correct society, then get around to myself" are barred from even the outer gate of the mansion of God's peace. All societies are evil, sorrowful, inequitable, and so they will always be. So if you really want to help this world, what you will have to teach is how to live in it. And that no one can do who has not himself learned how to live in it in the joyful sorrow and sorrowful joy of the knowledge of life as it is." -Joseph Campbell (Myths to Live By)

I've been finding my reading of Joseph Campbell's work engaging and very stimulating. I just read this passage over the weekend and it has continued to stay with me. I think about how depressed I got a couple of years ago after watching Lord of War. Since then I have become a bit more cynical accepting of the fact that the world has it problems and that I can't change them on a grand scale in my life time (or have the wisdom to know what kind of change is needed). But I still hold on to the belief voiced by Gandhi that "you must be the change you wish to see in the word". I feel Joseph Campbell echoes that here in such a beautifully articulate way.