Influencers for a Kinder World
Building Community
It is fair to say that Carl Benston, AKA, Mr. Positive, never thought of himself as an influencer, at least not by the standards of those who are able to use their influence as a source of income through social media. How could you possibly expect a person living with savant syndrome disability to be an influencer? Like others who live in or frequent the West 7th Community, I often saw Carl on his creatively outfitted bike. I never had the opportunity to meet Mr. Positive in person, but thanks to the wonderful memorial in the January Community Reporter and the writings of Tim Rumsey, I almost feel like I did. I certainly have known folks like Carl, people who somehow manage the art of being, without pretense or gilded effort to showcase themselves for profit or otherwise.
One of the advantages of being a pastor is you are given the opportunity to encounter people like Carl who are so at peace with who they are that they can generously care about those around them. Among the folks standing out for me is Blanche, a woman who also would never show up on anyone’s list of influencers. She had no children or family in the area and in her later years her days were spent in the confines of the nursing home where she lived, a place where many folks say they never wish to end up. Blanche was in a shared bedroom and was given the bed closest to the hallway rather than a bed next to the window. The nursing home itself was on the tired side, looking like it had known some years. Blanche had every reason to lament her situation, but every time I stopped to visit she was nothing but positive about the staff, about the food, about where she lived. She never failed to ask about how I was doing and about my family. By her very presence, Blanche gave me cause to reconsider how I looked at and dealt with all the things that I might find frustrating and discouraging. I am confident she had that impact on others as well.
Neither Carl nor Blanche allowed the circumstances of their lives to be a detriment to who they were or how they treated those around them. In her book “Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You’d Rather Cancel,” author Loretta Ross states, “the one human right that can never be taken away is the right to choose our own attitude, no matter the circumstances in which we find ourselves.” For Ross our capacity to have a positive influence in our world and with those around us begins with something that likely came natural for Carl and Blanche; that is “recognizing we have a common core with most people – the values and experiences and concerns that you share.” Rather than “focus on the differences that leap out to you” give your first attention to what we hold in common.
Loretta Ross is an African American activist who has spent five decades working for human rights. She is very much concerned with making the world a better place, where racism, sexism or any hierarchy of division and oppression will no longer be a drag on the human spirit or potential. What Ross is convinced we need is a willingness to listen, to call in the best in people, rather than call out the worst. What we need is more people like Carl and Blanche whose influence encourages us to be better, do better, enabling us to play our part in shaping the type of community and world in which we truly want to live.
