THE BIG ENGINE

The world is full of hurt and abuse, of unfairness and of suffering. Not even Home, the place where we should come to rest, is safe, for often it is there that our rights are most violated, with or without walls to protect us. Our bodies are abused and beaten in our struggle for wholeness as we navigate our way through low self, fear, hatred.

Yet our light still shines. And the fuel which drives it is our courage, our strength, our determination not to give up. And when this fuel is ingited, it turns into energy, and out come our talents: words, plays, songs, poems, comedies, good actions.

In the beginning we had to self-ignite. The engine was our own volition. It was a slow engine, for often when we wanted to go out to the world, either to display our wounds or show our achievements, we might run out of energy, well before we managed to find, then to climb onto, the right platform.

We found it difficult to hunt for the right medium, the bulb through which to shine our light. And sometimes our weak little light might burn for a short while, then it might go out. We often ran out of energy, out of pen, paper, could not find a way to get our words out, before they died.

Now no longer. Now we have an engine which can instantly spark what little individual fuel we have, connect our small sparks and channel them into milky ways of information and stars of solution. An engine which has the power to pick up on a whisper and turn it into thunder, ignite the tiniest spark and turn it into explosive lightening. A water wheel which turns streams into rivers and rivers into seas.

I am only just starting out on the path opened up by this tremendous engine, and I have no idea where it will lead. All I know is that it is exciting, rejuvinating and wow! I shall stay on its path and let it take me where it will, for I know that my little light is joined by millions of others across the skies, buoyant and luminous; that my little sound reverberates within thunder; and my drop of water feeds the sea.

I am excited that I can be part of the solutions which Web 2.0 makes possible, part of the knife which will continue to dissect into depths of disempowerment and despair, to reveal light in places of darkness.

I shall continue to learn about this fantastic engine. I'm going to be part of the team in the engine room for my local community: connecting people, places and happenings; spreading news good and bad; opening up opportunities for broadcast and of learning, information and support: locally, nationally and beyond.

I shall find ways to pass on my energy into the hub of this big engine. My little light will be a spark which ignites the fuel in the big Web 2.0.