I dont want to preach to anyone, or present myself as knowing whats best for others... but I would like to make an observation or two on something thats been on my mind lately. We all (no matter our age) often make statements about how America...and our individual communities ...just arent the same anymore. And this is true obviously. Clear for anyone of almost any age to see but especially clear for us older guys and gals whove seen the world change (many times for the worse) during our lives. On the long long nights that I cant sleep well (which most of you know about due to the pain I suffer from) and often at odd moments during the day, I reflect on such things and turn them this way and that way in my mind. Yes, I feel, certainly much of the changes we see (for good or bad) is in the level of technology (a most certain TWO EDGED wonder) that the world has experienced. Wondrous advances in science, medicine, electronics, communication...i.e. technological advances, have vastly improved and or changed SO MUCH of the world around us and continues to do so on a daily (if not an hourly) rate. And certainly THAT has been a game changer in our lives. So much of the new ultra technology is good... yet in some ways it has been bad too, of course...as I mentioned, a doubled edged sword that cuts both ways. But thats not all thats changed the world around us... I want to bring up a few small things that some of you might not even have thought about. Community spirit. Thats right. Think about it. As kids for my generation virtually EVERYONE in our communities/neighborhoods/towns/etc... knew one another. Who knows more than a handful of people in their neighborhood/community now? Ha! Not many, Ill wager. Sure, some few of you might, but most simply do not. And why not? Well, I dunno, lets mull on this... Theres many reasons for the above, but these are some Ive really considered and personally feel that is a direct root cause. 1. We no longer take the time or energy to KNOW our neighbors. We no longer visit them. We no longer stop by to say hello, or if someone does stop by our own homes we are suspicious and not friendly nor make them feel welcome. We seldom if ever WELCOME new people into the community/neighborhood. Thus...people living across the road, down the street, sometimes even next door are mostly if not complete strangers to us. How is this good for us, or the community as a whole? gah! 2. So many of us no longer go or seldom go to community events. We dont (for the most part) instigate them, encourage them, or go to them if they are instigated. We tell ourselves we havent the time, or that were too tired, too sick, etc, etc...you know how it is. 3. We dont go to funerals anymore. Even many times to people we know, people we have known, people we grew up with...even close friends/family/neighbors. Often the excuse is...work, not enough time, family to care for, supper to cook, houses to clean, not feeling well, tired, sick, etc, etc... again, you know how it is. 4. We dont go to church anymore (or many of us do not.) Okay... now whether you go to church or not, especially on a regular basis is YOUR business...not mine. And Im not here to chastise you or attempt to put you down for not doing it or to try to drag you into it. You go or not go, according to your own mind and makeup. And Im fine with that. However... think about it... Churches, ...just like knowing your neighbors, going to community events, etc...is an IMPORTANT COMMUNITY FUNCTION. BS you might say...but its true. If the people of a community go to a community church or churches, then they mingle, they talk, they exchange ideas/problems/discuss not only religion but also politics/national and local, they bring up interesting topics and everyone gets a FEEL for each other. Theres a BINDING...a communion of souls...a brother/sisterhood... a caring for one another. And folks this is important. It was THE glue that held our world together for hundreds even thousands of years... a community spirit, a feeling of some type of kinship for your fellow community members/neighbors. (plus church has the added benefit of serving the Lord but thats not the thrust of this topic. ;-) ) Most communities these days no longer have the small grocery store to hang out at and do some of the above. Some still do, sure, but these small stores are dinosaurs and bound to die off fairly soon. Community events no longer exist in many smaller or even larger communities... and if you dont go to a community church or churches, you might have ZERO way to get to know WHO lives where YOU live. Even if you find out their name you dont really KNOW them anymore. That leaves YOU to purposefully task yourself to physically walk or drive across the road/street to meet and get to know your neighbor/neighbors. Think youll do that? lol... I sort of doubt it and am speaking from my own personal experience. ha! So what Im encouraging by all this is... if you REALLY want your world to be more like it used to be, then act at least a little like the people from your past acted... invest a little bit of time and energy into your community. Find out who your neighbors are, visit them, welcome new people moving in. Go to funerals. Go to community events. Instigate your own community events...i.e. yard sales, bake sales, soup sales, etc. Go or visit your local church/churches often. Make friends with as many of your neighbors as you can. Dont sit at home and grouse or wonder WHY things aint like they used to be. ;-) Its your world...you can change it if you want to. YOU, can make a difference. Start small...like in YOUR community. Dont just live someplace. Be a part of someplace.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 05:37:00 +0000
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