Creating Community

Yesterday we created history. We elected the first African American President of the United States. I grew up in the segregated south in a time that now seems light years away. Thankfully so. Things needed to change then. And they need to change now.

The headlines today are filled with the challenges facing our new President. Certainly there are many, healthcare, financial reform, widening federal deficits, the Iraq war, just to name a few. And yet, to me the most important change we need is to recognize we are all in this together. We need to create community.

I am not talking about the kind of community where you notice who is living next door. I am talking about creating the kind of community where we begin to understand that we are interdependent organisms. Community, where there is an appreciation and respect for the common good. Where every action isn’t just about my personal welfare and my pocketbook.

We have been living in a time of tremendous me-ish. What is in it for me? How much money will I make? How does this affect my pocketbook?

For if we understood, deep down in our bones, that we are interdependent, how would we behave differently?

Would you volunteer at the local soup kitchen? Stop by to see your neighbor when they are sick? Become a big brother or big sister? Reach out to our co-worker when they are having a bad day? Be willing to ride the bus to work one day a week or once a month?

I remember when Jimmy Carter was President. In an address to the nation he laid out his concern for our national security given our dependence on foreign oil. The fastest path to short term energy reduction was conservation. To that end, we were asked to drive 55mph on the highway, and turn our thermostats down. The idea was that we would all sacrifice for the common good.

Here is the clip of that address:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tPePpMxJaA

Sadly, the next President, Ronald Reagan, reversed all of the conservation efforts President Carter had implemented. More importantly gone was the idea that we the people would individually inconvenience ourselves for the greater good.

All good things come home to roost. Let’s renew the idea of community. Let’s renew the idea of the common good.

Perhaps John F. Kennedy said it best, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”