Somehow Whitney Houston's recent death makes me miss Michael Jackson even more. This song always makes me cry. I loved it as an elementary school student. I didn't know at the time that this strong affection for the lyrics "if you want to make the world a better place, better start with yourself and make the change!" meant that I was already marked as a Carmelite.
I didn't really internalize this truth as a young adult. As a "do gooder" Democrat, I spend so much of my life running around, trying to make the world a better place with social programs. I spent so much of my twenties feeling frustrated, burned out and unhappy.
Now it's such a profound realization to know that peace in the larger world always starts with peace in my own heart, my peace with God.
