Yesterday, Ilchi Lee posted an inspirational message that I decided to share in abbreviated form. It’s another call to be great by changing the way we look at the world and live our lives.

Unlike the cloistered St. Therese, however, Ilchi Lee asks us to go out into the world and share, share, share. His approach is the opposite of being alone in your spiritual devotion. Personally, I find that when I reach out and share my heart, I discover great peace and satisfaction. So I follow Ilchi Lee’s approach.

In this treatise, he talks about these modern times. Honestly, I don’t know whether the people are any worse than we were thousands of years ago. I think the difference is that there are more of us, and we have more technology, so we have greater impact. Another difference is that we have more of a chance to effect real change in ourselves and in the world. So I think we should take it. Now is the time to embody that change. . . I’m working on it.

I believe in the power of the dreams that people cherish in their hearts. A great and beautiful dream makes a person great and beautiful. Just as individuals have dreams and corporations have dreams, a country must have a dream and humankind also has to have a dream. Dreams turn wandering into adventure, change apathy into passion, and bring separated hearts together as one.

It has been 16 years since all of the Earth Humans ushered in the new millennium with fire in their hearts. The world we’re living in, however, is growing increasingly distant from hope and happiness. With problems that include military disputes over national borders, economic turmoil, and environmental issues that grow more serious with each passing day, there is deepening conflict and anxiety, and it is difficult to find new hope and vision.

No country can be seen taking on a genuine leadership role in this era. There is not a true model nation that shows, through the practice of its government and the lives of its citizens, how humankind should move forward. Though there are superpowers, there is not a true leading nation that regards as its business the peace and happiness of the earth and humankind as a whole, and gives this its concerted effort and consideration. They’re simply too busy negotiating and fighting just to be even a little better off than other countries; there is no country that dreams a great dream for the sake of humanity.

Where can we find new hope? Who will direct humankind toward a new dream and vision? What I’m suggesting now, is that the United States and the American citizens—we the People—rise to the occasion and fulfill this role and responsibility that humankind so desperately and urgently needs. And I propose that such a dream must be cherished and shared by at least 100 million Earth Citizens.

It’s hard to become the hope for humankind in this era right now with economic power or the power of national defense alone. If America truly intends to inspire and set the example for humankind, we must have a philosophy and vision, and we have to show it concretely through the aspect of our daily lives as we make actual contributions to the earth and humankind.

The fastest way to bring about real change to the earth is for every member of humankind to recover the true human spirit that lives in their heart. America was established on a foundation of creativity and a pioneering spirit, as well as the values of freedom, justice, and equality. On a foundation of true human spirit, America must now rise up with the great dream of unfolding a new future for the earth together. This dream must go beyond the level of protecting the national interests of the US alone to developing a great spirit and movement that inspires people to feel limitless responsibility for the earth and humankind. Rather than regarding ourselves as a member of only one country, we must think of ourselves as Earth Citizens who practice true love for the earth and love for humankind; that is the Earth Citizen Movement that must spread.

The Earth Citizen Movement awakens the true human spirit in all people. It’s a movement for recovering natural healing power to create one’s own health and happiness and to live a life of actualizing the beautiful and noble qualities that human beings possess. It’s a movement that promotes finding one’s dream and value, and pursuing harmony and the actualization of internal value over competition and external growth, in order to create a healthy and sustainable earth. This kind of movement must take place through individuals, families, schools, workplaces, and all areas of society. There must be 100 million people who have the Earth Citizen spirit by the year 2020 in order for human civilization to be able to make the shift from destruction to hope at the crossroads where we stand.

An increase in the number of people who have true human spirit is the way to prepare new hope for humankind. Spirit does not end as spirit. When spirit gathers, energy forms and matter forms. In the same way, when the minds and hearts of those who are sincerely concerned for the future of the earth and of humankind come together, we can make truly great accomplishments.

Every school on earth must cultivate Earth Citizens, every family must raise Earth Citizens, and the goal of every workplace, social group, discipline, country, and the UN must be to strive toward recovering the beauty of the earth’s natural environment, reviving human character, and establishing human peace. If a great and beautiful revolution of consciousness that would develop Earth Citizens, who go beyond their individual and selfish consciousness to be helpful to human beings and the world, could arise in a huge way in the year 2016, it would be a miracle and a joy that would long be remembered throughout human history.

I hope with all my heart that many people will participate in this historic effort to create human peace. I hope that five years from now, in the year 2020, we can look on together as a new Earth Village is born through the power of 100 million Earth Citizens.

I also found these quotes from Saint Thérèse of Lisieux on Wikipedia. They remind me of Eastern approaches to spirituality. I also like simple approaches myself.

Sometimes, when I read spiritual treatises in which perfection is shown with a thousand obstacles, surrounded by a crowd of illusions, my poor little mind quickly tires. I close the learned book which is breaking my head and drying up my heart, and I take up Holy Scripture. Then all seems luminous to me; a single word uncovers for my soul infinite horizons; perfection seems simple; I see that it is enough to recognize one’s nothingness and to abandon oneself, like a child, into God’s arms. Leaving to great souls, to great minds, the beautiful books I cannot understand, I rejoice to be little because only children, and those who are like them, will be admitted to the heavenly banquet.

Here is what she said about her approach to prayer:

For me, prayer is a movement of the heart; it is a simple glance toward Heaven; it is a cry of gratitude and love in times of trial as well as in times of joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus…I have not the courage to look through books for beautiful prayers…I do like a child who does not know how to read; I say very simply to God what I want to say, and He always understands me.

This is another quote from Mother Theresa that I’ve always loved:

We cannot do great things, only small things with great love.

St. Theresa the Little Flower, one of my favorites, is also known for doing this. She served God humbly with small acts.

In the end though, if the small things we do have a direction and goal and are carefully checked, just as Ilchi Lee always says, won’t the small things add up to something great?

Of course, whether small or large, the most important thing is great love. Without that, nothing is great.

Here is to a love-filled day!