Activists such as Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, and Martin Luther King, Jr. shared more than a long list of good deeds. They also shared a strong feeling that they should not be lifted up as special or different from the masses who admired their work. This implies that the job of affecting social change relies solely upon them and other high profile activists. In truth, it is incumbent upon all of us to work for the change we wish to see in our communities and in our world.

The challenging aspect of this is that we all have the same opportunity to address injustice as they had. We all have the same gifts, abilities, and potential within to allow us to do the great things that they did. On a personal level, what makes me different from Mother Teresa is that she stayed focused on what is important. Unlike Mother Teresa, I tend to allow myself to get distracted with the myriad of obstacles out there, such as materialism, being accepted, and everyday comforts.

However, I do participate in community service projects and charities from time to time. I feel most alive when I am giving my time to serve others—whether it is in the classroom where I teach, preparing a meal for impoverished children, or donating to a soup kitchen. But our service shouldn’t stop with charity.

After continuously filling bags of food for the hungry or writing checks to support the poor, we may start to ask why we have to do this. Our questions may lead us to realize that the structures around us actually contribute to hunger and poverty. This realization that we need to look for a root cause is where our work in charity leads us to look into the various issues of justice.

The following story (attributed to a variety of sources, including Christianity, Islam, Judaism, traditional Native American) illustrates the movement from charity to justice.

A Parable of Good Works

Once upon a time there was a small village on the edge of a river. The people there were good and the life in the village was good. One day a villager noticed a baby floating down the river. The villager quickly jumped into the river and swam out to save the baby from drowning.

The next day this same villager was walking along the river bank and noticed two babies in the river. He called for help and both babies were rescued from the swift waters. And the following day four babies were seen caught in the turbulent current. And then eight, then more, and still more.

The villagers organized themselves quickly, setting up watch towers and training teams of swimmers who could resist the swift waters and rescue babies. Rescue squads were soon working 24 hours a day. And each day the number of helpless babies floating down the river increased.

The villagers organized themselves efficiently. The rescue squads were now snatching many children each day. Groups were trained to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Others prepared formula and provided clothing for the chilled babies. Many, particularly elderly women, were involved in making clothing and knitting blankets. Still others provided foster homes and placement.

While not all the babies, now very numerous, could be saved, the villagers felt they were doing well to save as many as they could each day. Indeed, the village priest blessed them in their good work. And life in the village continued on that basis.

One day, however, someone raised the question, “But where are all these babies coming from? Who is throwing them into the river? Why? Let’s organize a team to go upstream and see who’s doing it.”

The seeming logic of the elders countered: “And if we go upstream who will operate the rescue operations? We need every concerned person here.”

“But don’t you see,” cried the one lone voice, “if we find out who is throwing them in, we can stop the problem and no babies will drown. By going upstream we can eliminate the cause of the problem.”

“It is too risky.”

And so the numbers of babies in the river increase daily. Those saved increase, but those who drown increase even more.

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Donating our time and money to causes in the New River Valley is good and necessary. But with these acts, we are putting a Band-Aid over significant wounds. Our next step should be looking for an actual cure for the wounds.

The cure involves courage and action as we stand up against the causes of pain and suffering. It is my hope we can all continue to do the good things we are doing as we also strive to seek the source of hurt in our society and work to end it.

Rick Robers grew up in Roanoke, Va. He now teaches middle school English in the New River Valley.