This holiday season has been a very busy one in our house but despite the crazy schedule, I have been reading about and reflecting on something related to the giving-oriented spirit of the season.
As you may know, there have been many reports of random/anonymous acts of kindness, such as paying off a stranger’s lay-away charges or water bill. These stories are heartwarming and show the great capacity that we have as a people to step outside our rugged individualism and do what we can for our neighbors.
In various ways, I have been thinking about this sort of thing for quite a while. My favorite example is this barn-raising scene from the Harrison Ford movie “Witness.” His character is hiding out in an Amish community and the scene depicts an incredible sense of community where every man, woman and child participates in building a barn for one of their neighbors.
Sadly, our modern, busy lives have tended to turn us inward, away from this amazing example of what community can look like. The reports of random acts of kindness show that, as a people, we have the capacity to step outside our rugged individualism. But how do we turn this capacity toward a greater sense of community?
I don’t have an easy answer but it occurs to me that our divisive politics is a big part of the problem. In this regard, it is helpful to remember the hopeful example of Abraham Lincoln; with the backdrop of a divisiveness that caused 600,000 Americans casualties, Lincoln ended his Gettysburg Address with the exhortation “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
The way things are today makes it extremely difficult to see any connection between our government and the barn raising scene. But what if we had a government that truly reflected Lincoln’s words? Wouldn’t this give us a much greater capacity to work as a community to raise our own barns? And why should we accept anything less than a citizen-led government that is solely focused on the common good of our communities?
Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love the stories about individual, random acts of kindness. But unless we find a way to harness this generous spirit, these acts won’t build barns.
We need more barns and we need more of the sense of community that comes from building them together. That is my hope and prayer.
Happy New Year!
– Greg
