People need each other

I grew up in a modest-sized costal community in California. Had you asked me then what I thought of my community, I would have responded with positive comments. I would have said that my community was filled with people who knew who I was, were interested in me, and participated in my life. Members of my community, I came to understand, cared for their family members and friends. They used their interests and skills to generously contribute to those whose lives they reached out to touch.

My growing understanding of community—influenced by my own sense of security, personal identity, and contentment—was fertilized by a host of characters. Barbara Pease spent countless hours at her kitchen table painting campaign posters and buttons whenever I ran for student government posts. Billy Clower taught me ballet, tap and jazz and the value of service clubs. Maggie Marsh cared for me beyond her sixth grade classroom and taught me to snow ski. Bob Warnagieris and Robert Cousar mentored me during my experiences with leadership and career development. Eleanora Cox sewed most of my clothes and attended most every event of my life, big and small. Sarah Bay and Connie Tice showed me how to talk boldly about the love of Jesus. Jerry Lehman introduced to me the world of page design and book publishing. Earl Rowe showed me how the great love of God can be expressed on the written page. Rose Ann Klope taught me that the more people you invite to your table, the merrier your life will be.

It’s my experience that reading cookbooks and surrounding yourself with pets produce joyful experiences. These are two of many things my mother taught me. My brother taught me that your level of accomplishment deepens when you learn to harness your mind and sharpen your focus. Dad taught me that servanthood and generosity builds relationships and deepens you understanding of loyalty.

These are just a fraction of the people who populated my community and contributed to my life. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of this host of characters are the long-lasting contributions they made to my life and to the lives of others in my community. Some of these people are deceased. Not a one lives within my community today. But their lives still matter. What they said and did for me as a child and young adult still breath life into me today.

Pastor Rick Warren, seen in recent days on all the major networks as he joined thousands of relief workers serving Americans displaced by Hurricane Katrina, is now famous for his bestseller, “The Purpose Driven Life.” His latest book is called “Better Together: What on Earth are WE Here for?” and he challenges readers to rethink, rework, and recommit to building community into our lives.

His premise? That we are better together. In fact, he contends that only in a community setting can we learn to live the kind of healthy, balanced, purposeful lives God designed for us. A healthy family unit is not enough. These lessons, says Warren, can never be learned and expressed in isolation. It is when we make determined efforts to worship together, study God’s word together, and gain the skills necessary to represent the message, personality and characteristics of God to those around us, will we be living according to God’s plan.

This is not a concept that will sit comfortably with those who resist the complications, challenges, and struggles that piggyback on consistent human interaction. But there will also be unimagined growth, joy, contentment. There will be a new depth to life that only comes when you step outside the confines of your home to build a community around you. It is the next step in your growth and development as a person of faith.

Perhaps this is all a bit too theoretical. Perhaps the questions to ask yourself might include these: If disaster were to strike my neighborhood, would I know someone I could go to for help and comfort? Do I know the family living three doors down from me? Do I care what happens to them? Do they care about what I am experiencing? Could I respond with a degree of organization, fairness, hope, peace, and courage? Or would I watch a repeat of those horrendous scenes when hopeless and unprincipled people looted and terrorized their own community members?

Like so many around me, my husband and I settled in Western Washington because we saw great potential for creating a lifestyle that would help us build a life for our family members that we enjoy and value. Moving to this region of the nation and to a new career opportunity necessitated that we build a new community. It was a process that enticed and challenged us then. It is a process that continues to this very day.

We need each other.

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