this is me...

This is me processing my deepest thoughts, as inspired by the Re:Form Conference last week:

Fundamentally, I've always believed changing the world is possible.  I've just been on a search for how.  Last week I encountered people who lived by the following truths.

"The world is not yours to save but serve the One whose it is."

"Approach the world more like Chinese Checkers than dominos."  - All the pieces are moving at once toward winning the game.  In other words, "scratch everywhere it itches."

"Respond.  Don't just react."

"Pioneers are often asking, 'where are all the people?'  Settlers are waiting to see if the pioneers survive."

Overflow is an effort to address the world's issues by creating a community of people in the South Loop who join together to actively seek to solve the world's issues by a holistic approach.  We're not just focusing on one or two issues because the issues are connected with one another.  For example, a coffee farmer personally experiences the injustice of slavery and often is connected with issues of education, health, environment and political corruption.  South Loopers also face these same things right in our own backyard.

Just as we must approach the issues holistically, we must also join together as a community in order to have a greater impact.  I'm sick of organizations replicating each others' efforts.  We need to integrate and partner.  We need to lay aside our own agendas and seek the greater good as one voice and one heart.

Aristotle was the one who laid it down, "The whole is more than the sum of its parts."  My generation (Millennials) define ourselves in terms of concentric circles.  Perhaps the holistic approach is a key to engaging and committing my generation to a mission bigger than ourselves. 

Now to put these thoughts into action and see what happens... Stay tuned. 

Go out and change the world.