Moccasins
By
City Year
Oh Great Spirit, grant that I may never criticize my brother or my sister until I have walked the trail of life in their moccasins.
- Adapted from a Cherokee prayer
Empathy, understanding, and an aggressively non-judgmental world outlook are essential attributes to
leading social change. The metaphor of walking in the moccasins of another person before offering
criticism is a remarkably useful leadership tool, as well as a moral imperative. As Robert F. Kennedy
noted, “The task of leadership, the first task of concerned people, is not to condemn or castigate or
deplore; it is to search out the reason for disillusionment and alienation, the rationale of protest and
dissent — perhaps, indeed, to learn from it.”
Service is a common ground on which all people can come together to begin the work of building a more
just society — work that depends on striving to truly understand one another. Service also is a powerful
pathway for having our “moccasins” prayer answered: through the common ground of service, we can all
walk in each other’s moccasins, and once exposed to the experiences of others, we are more likely to
understand perspectives and points of view that are different, foreign, or even hostile to our own. It is
essential that we learn to “moccasin” the world we encounter, to seek a broad inclusiveness in all
endeavors, and to nurture a deep empathy within ourselves.
Doing so generates wisdom, reconciliation, and social trust – vital elements for achieving human progress and lasting, positive social change
Bookmark this article:
