From political campaigns to prime-time television, our collective desire for change is given lip-service in almost every area of American life. We long for lasting change and cheer it on when we get a glimpse of it: from elections, to Wall Street reforms, to transformations of the biggest loser we yearn to believe it can happen. It is sadly apparent, however, as we surf the Web, watch the news, or read the paper that we are missing the mark — very little has changed in significant ways. Meaningful change is uncommon. This realization has me ruminating on the lasting significance of one of the most important novels in America’s history. To Kill a Mockingbird forces us to look beneath the surface of our well-intentioned rhetoric and discover the truth about change. Harper Lee’s novel affirms that it is not propaganda, religious dogma, political power or economic reform that is the catalyst for change — it is compassion. This treatise on compassion has remained relevant for 50 years since its publication, and it still holds the answers to our social, cultural and religious challenges in 2010. In my book, The Mockingbird Parables, I explore how rediscovering the message of compassion can create lasting change — the way we live our lives, the way we communicate, the way we see each other, even the way we care for the natural environment…

Read the entire Huffington Postarticle here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-litton/to-kill-a-mockingbird-rem_b_790171.html