We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men. – Herman Melville

We were not meant to seek only our own self-interest, but we are tempted to try it. Or at least to see how much we can get away with.

Each day is an opportunity to give up our selfishness and self-centeredness in exchange for putting others first – for realizing and playing our part in the thousand fibers that connect us with our fellow men.

What we do with that opportunity determines in part how well things go for those thousand fibers.

Our hearts break at school shootings, racial unrest, social injustice, fatherless children, and the many other social ills facing our modern world.

I’m convinced the answer lies in the relationships each of us form with those in our lives. When we die to our selfishness, we beat back the evils of this world – a little bit at a time.

One person isn’t enough, but that’s where it starts. With you. And me. Every. Day.

It doesn’t get better if we don’t.

It can and will get better if we do.

Make it a great day.

Jake