Rockwall, TX (August 21, 2024) – This past weekend I had the honor and pleasure of emceeing the Youth Symphony and Rockwall Art League’s annual luncheon and auction in Greater Rockwall. As I stood at the side of the stage waiting for it to begin, I thought of a phrase I’ve been saying for years and shared with those attending the event right after my performance: “There are only four ways to save a person – through music, art, books and Jesus.” After some applause and “Hallelujah!” from the audience, I pointed out a few other truths. In this room of over 200 people, right here from our Rockwall Heath Lake community, we had at least three of those in the room. Music, art and some good old-fashioned church people doing their best to let their light shine. The second truth is this: In this incredibly harsh reality, this conflict-ridden political season and this new turbulent era we find ourselves in, We you have the power to preserve the harmony, peace and beauty of our community.
In Franklin Covey’s The 7 Habits of Effectivenesstell the story of a principal from an inner-city school who spent an entire weekend in every bathroom on her high school’s grounds, hand-scrubbing away the smell of urine and mold with bleach and disinfectant. When the students returned the next Monday, they found bathrooms that did them proud. They were clean, presentable, and no longer smelled like the students of previous years. She knew that beauty, or a return to something better, was the key to change. When we see our community in trouble, it is in our hands to preserve our beauty. We must bring peace to our homes, safety to our streets, color to our gardens, kindness to our language, and gentleness to our decisions.
Our world may be falling apart. It may be bleak and sometimes even dangerous, but we have the power to focus on what nourishes the soul. Lower taxes, bigger police departments, safer schools, more restaurants—none of these will matter unless our community understands that we, too, have the power to change our community more than anything else. We don’t need more money, we need more grace. We don’t need more business, we need more sharing. We don’t need more power, we need more compassion. We don’t need more success, we need more connection. Not that these things are negative—they aren’t. I’m all for economic growth and success, but if we don’t grow what matters most, we’ll get lost in the shuffle of all this expansion until one day we look up and don’t recognize ourselves at all.
Whether you support the arts through fundraisers like the one I was privileged to be a part of or bring beauty into your home and neighborhood in other ways, it doesn’t matter as long as you do your part to promote beauty, safety, kindness, compassion, empathy, and calm. When we all commit to these efforts, we all succeed together.
