It's In Your Hands
By
City Year
There once lived a wise elderly woman. She had lived in the same house her entire life. Everyday whenshe woke, she would say “Good morning” to her beautiful parakeet, Agape. The woman would put Agapein the window so she could enjoy the sun and the fresh air, and the elderly woman would then go about her daily chores.
All of the people who lived in the neighborhood knew about the elderly woman and her bird, Agape. One day, two young men decided that they were going to break into the elderly woman’s house while she was away and steal her bird. They decided that when she returned they would approach her and say, “Old woman, we have your bird. Is it dead or alive?” If the old woman replied “dead,” the young men decided that they would open their hands and let Agape fly away. If the old woman replied “alive,” they would crush Agape dead and drop her at the feet of the elderly woman.
Just as they had planned, the two boys waited for the elderly woman to leave her house to do her daily
chores. When the elderly woman left, they broke into the house and stole Agape. When she returned, she
found that her house had been broken into and Agape’s empty cage was on the floor.
Just as the two boys had planned, they approached the elderly woman and said, “Old woman, we have
your bird. Is it dead or alive?” The wise, elderly woman paused a moment and looked at the ground.
Then, with caring in her eyes, she looked at the boys and slowly answered, “I don’t know... it’s in your
hands.”
- Popularized by Toni Morrison and often quoted as an indigenous tale
Agape is a Greek word for selfless, spiritual love for humanity. We hold in our hands not only the
consequences of our own decisions, but also the effect we can have on the actions of others - and even on
the state of the world as we find it.
When we make good choices, and take responsibility for the poor choices we have made - and regain
power over our own actions – we ennoble ourselves by directly enhancing humanity.
When we offer others the opportunity to take responsibility for their actions and to make good choices, we
offer pathways to empowerment and dignity. Similarly, when we realize that the problems of our day,
perhaps through no direct fault of our own, are in our hands, we realize that knowledge of pain, suffering
or injustice equals responsibility to act.
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