You are a point of light

I recently attended CASA’s Light of Hope breakfast and from the moment that I walked into the Antler’s hotel in Colorado Springs until the event ended, I was so moved in both my heart and soul about why this county needs CASA – and YOU!

I walked past the cardboard cutouts of children to enter the room where the event was being held and each image brought tears to my eyes. They weren’t tears of sadness although every child on the cutouts represents the painful journey of other children.  My tears were for my gratefulness to CASA and the vital work that is being done.

The testimony of a father who is now reunited with his six children and the volunteer who is the catalyst of hope in the family is one of many stories where real differences are made in the lives of the children and families.

I want to use my Butterfly metamorphosis thoughts about light to highlight an idea about inclusion and diversity. Did you know that caterpillar have six small eyes called Ocelli on either side that only detect light and can only see black and white since they don’t have fully developed eyes? Butterflies on the other hand, have compound eyes for vision – up to 17,000 “ommatidia” – individual light receptors with their own microscopic lenses.

What’s my point with the butterfly metaphor? When you serve with empathy, compassion, and joy – you not only become points of light but also begin to see the diverse beauty of each child in unique ways. While it may sound noble to use the phrase `I don’t see the color of the children and families that I serve’ – we don’t need to be color blind.

It is okay to use your `mature fully developed eyes’ of empathy and compassion to see the beauty of each child’s diverse background, celebrate who they are as individuals, and allow yourselves to continue to learn from unique and beautiful cultural patterns while being points of light that even cause them to shine more brightly.

It is Your commitment to CASA, the children, and the families that are being served that is not only making a difference but is really the Points of Light.

 “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”     Robert F. Kennedy