I recently was given a copy of The Better World Handbook, which is advertised as “the definitive guide for the average person wanting to make a positive difference in the world.” A related website suggests this is the book for “well-intentioned people who may be too busy to be actively involved in social change organizations.”

If you're looking for ways to be more socially responsible but don't quite know where to begin, the Handbook is a good primer. Want to know how to invest your retirement in a socially responsible way or how the companies from which you buy are paying their employees? Look it up in the Handbook. The book offers examples of what thousands of people around the world are doing in seven categories: Economic Fairness, Comprehensive Peace, Ecological Sustainability, Deep Democracy, Social Justice, Culture of Simplicity, and Revitalized Community. The most recent edition even adds a section on “spirituality and religion.”

I suspect the Handbook will grow in popularity as more of us try to be better consumers and global citizens. You probably won't agree with every strategy in the book. The hundreds of suggestions represent an array of values. This also probably isn't the book to buy for the overachiever in your life. You know, the person who is determined to try three new things every week for a month and seldom sustains any one of them? 

Whether you read the book or not, what intrigues me is how the book taps in to a shared yearning for what Judaism calls tikkun olan: the healing of the world.

We Christians also have a handbook for learning the stories and practices that contribute to a better world. We also have communities of faith where other persons teach us the practices that can make a difference in our individual lives as well as in the larger community.

What practices have you encountered at North or in other Christian communities that make a difference? Have you witnessed or personally experienced how setting aside 20 minutes a day for  prayer, reflection, or reading of scripture can help you see the world in a new way? I know people at North Church who wouldn't let a week pass without visiting a homebound friend or offering to relieve a caregiver for an hour or two so that person can rest from their 24/7 duties. There are some folks who would never consider themselves “social activists” but who quietly allow God to transform the lives of others as they go about volunteering their time, sharing their financial resources, or encouraging others whose gifts often go unnoticed.

God already is at work transforming the world into a better place. It may be that what we need more than a handbook is a commitment to be attentive and grateful to the people who reflect God's work among us. In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul writes a long section urging the church members to notice how every person brings gifts that contribute to the whole. Sometime this month I hope you'll find just one person you think contributes to the healing of the world and thank them. Give them a copy of the Handbook if you want. Or, just give them a hand.

Shalom,