Appreciating My Community

As I rode in a shuttle from Guelph to Toronto last week, the woman seated next to me started talking about the Ontario landscape. She had sold their farm in Guelph and moved to Alberta because of a sick son. They bought a ranch out there, but, she didn’t imagine she would stay. She had deep roots in Ontario. She shared many stories about the wild life and the beauty of her ranch in Alberta. However, she said, it was the community that convinced her she had found her permanent home.

Early on, a new neighbor came over and introduced himself and invited them to dinner. She said they almost did not go as they were exhausted from unpacking, but they thought it would be rude to turn down their first invitation. So they went to find he had invited about 100 of their closet neighbors gathered to meet the new family. Through her neighbors, she has learned about community. "You never have to ask for help." she said. For example, she checking the fields with a neighbor. They stopped for coffee and the neighbor casually mentioned she was dividing calves the next day. My seatmate posted this news on Facebook and the next day 30 people showed up to help. What would have taken days was done in 6 hours. “Now I know what a community is and I am not leaving”, she said.

We got to the airport before I could say, I know what you mean." I could share many lessons about community from our 19 years in Cook County. We can be hard on each other at times, call each other names and disagree. But when the need is great, this community will surround you with love – the kind of love that heals.

“Community is a sign that love is possible in a materialistic world where people so often either ignore or fight each other. It is a sign that we don't need a lot of money to be happy--in fact, the opposite.”
― Jean Vanier, Community And Growth