A frequently asked question is 'how do I join Initiatives of Change?' The answer can sometimes seem confusing. Frank Buchman, who started it all, used to say 'it's not about getting people into a movement – its about getting movement into people.' The same holds true today. There are no membership forms or lists, no annual membership fees, just a network of people with a drive and commitment to bringing change – starting with themselves.

Anyone, anywhere, can start an initiative of change by applying the words of Mahatma Gandhi: Be the change you want to see in the world. If you want to see an end to corruption, start by being scrupulously honest yourself. If you want to see peace in the world, start within your own family. If you care about the environment, start looking at your own patterns of consumption and waste.

Start, but don't stop there. Individuals are powerful. Teams even more so. Starting with yourself can inspire others to follow your example creating hope and fighting cynicism and despair. We all have times when we feel discouraged and need the support of others. Teams can give that support, along with a diversity of skills, perspectives and personal networks, enabling individual efforts to be greatly magnified.

To contact your local team click here.

To find out about IofC events click here.

But the driving force for change always lies with the individual. The all-too-human tendency to institutionalize, to set up rules, regulations and procedures, can sometimes get in the way of individual spontaneity and initiative.

As someone once said:

It's not an institution,
it's not a point of view.
It starts a revolution,
by starting one in you.

Forgiveness

So what kind of 'movement into people' was Buchman talking about? In answering this question he frequently went back to a key experience of forgiveness in 1908 when he was able to let go of resentment to six former colleagues recognizing, as he put it, that 'I was the seventh wrong man'. In writing to each of these men, Buchman asked their forgiveness indicating that he had fully forgiven them. The experience unleashed a creative force in Buchman to the extent that he was able to help the next person he met to have a similar experience.

As a Christian, Buchman interpreted his experience as one of the Cross:

'It produced in me a vibrant feeling, as though a strong current of life had suddenly been poured into me and afterwards a dazed sense of a great spiritual shaking up. There was no longer this feeling of a divided will, no sense of calculation and argument, of oppression and helplessness; a wave of strong emotion, following the will to surrender, rose up within me ... and seemed to lift my soul from its anchorage of selfishness, bearing it across that great sundering abyss to the foot of the Cross.'

In later years as he increasingly worked with people of other faiths or no faith, he used to talk of 'the great big "I" which had to be crossed out'.

His belief was that this same core experience was accessible to anyone, regardless of their religious orientation.

Tools for change

Each person's journey is unique and there is no simple mechanism which can be prescribed for helping people bring change. Nevertheless IofC has developed some tools which can help the process.

1. Take a good hard look in the mirror. Doing a 'moral inventory' of our lives can be surprisingly helpful at revealing parts of our nature that we may not have been aware of. Take as guides, the universal moral values of absolute honesty, purity, unselfishness and love.

• Honesty - not deceiving others or ourselves
• Purity - freedom from being controlled by our desires or our fears and insecurities.
• Unselfishness - a commitment to fairness and justice and a willingness to share.
• Love - a quality of the heart which lies at the root of all the core values. A readiness to let go of hatred and jealousy. A commitment to forgiveness.

Why absolute? Because our nature is to always compare ourselves with other people in ways which just reinforce the beliefs we already have about ourselves. So, for example, we might say 'I am more honest than most people' or 'I am very selfish compared to my mother'. The point about these absolute values is that everyone falls short. They are like the North Star – nobody will ever reach it, but it can guide us on our way.

Take enough time to do this inventory – about an hour might be a good starting point, working alone in silence. And take something to write down the insights and revelations you gain. Look at each value in turn: Am I absolutely honest? When was the last time I deceived someone? What about my tax statements? Do I always pay what I should for the services I use? Do I always do the things I say I will do? Do I say what I really believe? How trustworthy am I?

Nobody need see what you write, so it is a question of how honest you can be with yourself. Don't forget to include the positives as well. You can celebrate the times when you have been honest, pure, unselfish or loving.

2. Act on what you find. At the end of this process, you should have some fresh insights into your own nature. Perhaps you are hearing your conscience more clearly than before. It is important now to act on what you find. Maybe it is time to return that book you 'borrowed' years ago, time to pay back any money you owe. Perhaps there are people you have hurt who you need to apologize to. Maybe you have deceived people and need, now, to tell them the truth.

Are there people you need to forgive? Forgiveness is a process that can take time, but a willingness to go down this path is an important first step. Being honest about your own mistakes can help, as can stepping into another's shoes and trying to see things from their perspective while carrying their stresses and burdens. Often the hardest person to forgive is ourselves. Talking things over and praying with a trusted friend can help.

3. Take regular times in silence. Silence has long been recognized as a powerful tool for change. In silence we can access the deep inner wisdom, the voice of conscience, what mystics have recognized as the voice of the divine. Listening to this voice can provide the inspiration and inner strength to be a change-maker.

The practise which Frank Buchman taught was to start each day with a time of quiet inner searching, writing down each thought which came in order to free one's attention for the next thought.

In silence we also encounter the voice of the ego, and it is important to learn to distinguish ego from the inner voice of love. There are few more dangerous self-deceptions than an ego which believes it is speaks divine truth. Constantly referring back to the values of absolute honest, purity, unselfishness and love can help distinguish the two. Sharing the thoughts we write down with trusted friends can also help.

It is important to act on what is revealed through silence. A voice which is repeatedly ignored eventually becomes silent. This is certainly true of the inner voice, the voice of conscience.

4. Enlist others. Get creative. Who are the key players in the issue you want to address? Who would be your 'dream team'? Approaching people with your passion for change, humbly sharing what you have learned and where you have had to change can be very winning. Be prepared for the unexpected! In silence you may get thoughts to approach some unlikely people. Sometimes, the least obvious thoughts turn out to be the hinge on which big doors swing.

5. Create hope for the world. As you begin to see change happening, share the story and help inspire others. Too many people remain passive because they lack hope that things can change, or don't believe that they can make a difference. By telling the story of what has happened to you others may be motivated to start the process of change themselves, or they may want to offer you their support. Email us if you have a story you want to share.

Contact

Email us for information, or contact your nearest IofC team.