Consider the following little poster:

A long time ago (1957) Eric Frank Russell wrote the great science fiction novel WASP/

Both ideas are correct. Millions of bees (or wasps) cannot be withstood – even hundreds or dozens can incapacitate and kill a human. Russell’s story starts out with a news story about a car full of adult men killed in an accident because of the wasp in the passenger compartment. (Fact or fiction? We know personally of similar accidents.) A single wasp, bee, or person in the wrong (or right?) place can have unimaginable influence. (The novel, if you have not read it or want to read it again, is available free online as a PDF or ePub.)

For bad or good. For tyranny or… for liberty.

A wasp, a bee, can destroy a 2,000-pound automobile. At the right time and place, it can also save a vehicle, save a life, and more. We are more than insects. We are humans – and we are or should be free.

These memes are just as true in 2023 as they were in 1957, or 1000 BC. And liberty and freedom are just as precious, just as necessary to we humans.

“I am just one person” is an excuse for inaction. For accepting slavery instead of grasping liberty for ourselves and others.

In times of crisis and danger, we must seize the time, seize the opportunities, to stand up and say “I won’t” – and whether it is just one person, a family, a congregation, a community, or more – we can make a difference. If not the first time, then the next or the next.

We can.

We must.