To make a better day, live in a better world.

Ordinary heroes are people like you and me that use the resources they have to make a difference and make their contribution to the world. They are not rich, nor have an abundant amount of power, what they have is the will to make a difference. 

Lyndsy Patterson

You probably have never heard of this girl, and that is because she is a friend of mine and a classmate at Indiana University Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW). She is 22 years old, a French major, that loves being outdoors, riding her bike and listening to music. She is part of a local band called the The End Times Spasm Band and she has a BIG heart. Last summer Lyndsy went to Burkina Faso, Africa, to volunteer at an orphanage. She spent 3 months there helping take care of the children, teaching them English and music. Lyndsy told me that the major lessons she learned from this trip were that:

•One person can do a lot

• You need to use what you have to help others

• We are all the same people, it does not matter where we are from

 “I went over there thinking I was going to help them and they ended up helping me” Lyndsy Patterson

Bernie Glassman

Bernie loves baking and he also noticed a need in his community for employment. He ,therefore, opened a bakery, the “Greystone Bakery,” where he employs low skilled workers, workers that had difficulty getting hired anywhere else. The slogan for his bakery is “Great Desserts by Great People doing Great Deeds.” He is an ordinary man but he is also extraordinary because of the life he has chosen to lead through avidly practicing peace. And his kindness and innovation haven't hurt him either.

When opening his business Bernie followed the 4 steps of NVC:

-          He observed that there was a need in his community (He felt that he must create a business to satisfy both his personal and spiritual needs)  

 Bernie created the “Greyston Bakery” (to give back) 

-          He made 2 requests

1.  That his employees would work hard and be disciplined in order to obtain self-sufficiency and community transformation.  

2.  That the profits would contribute to the community development work of the Greyston Foundation.

To learn more about Bernie Glassman please go to: http://www.zenpeacemakers.org/about/bios/bernie_bio.htm

"When we bear witness, when we become the situation — homelessness, poverty, illness, violence, death — the right action arises by itself. We don’t have to worry about what to do. We don’t have to figure out solutions ahead of time. Peacemaking is the functioning of bearing witness. Once we listen with our entire body and mind, loving action arises.

Loving action is right action. It’s as simple as giving a hand to someone who stumbles or picking up a child who has fallen on the floor. We take such direct, natural actions every day of our lives without considering them special. And they’re not special. Each is simply the best possible response to that situation in that moment." Bernie Glassman