Lynn Nichols A very, very dear friend of mine owns our local bar, and his bar is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. He has recruited me to organize and manage the party for him, and has also asked me to write and deliver a speech on Community. Here is my speech. I hope you enjoy it. ***By Lynn Nichols on Standard 100th Anniversary Celebration *** The key to building a strong, solid and welcoming community resides right within the term community, and that key is ‘UNITY.’ Unity is created through friendship and solidarity. If neither is present, then there is no community. In an attempt to send my point home, I’m going to direct this speech a little to my personal life. Many, many years ago, when I was a wee spit of a girl, only 5-years old, my parents purchased a small hobby farm in a tiny community with a population of about 200 … yes, even smaller than our village. Come moving day, we pulled into our new driveway with our truckload of furnishings and possessions. Within 10 minutes of our arrival, vehicles full of people we had never met pulled into our yard to offer their services. The entire truck was unloaded in about half an hour, and we’re talking about a family of five and a huge 3-bedroom farmhouse. We had a lot of stuff! As soon as everything was unloaded, these neighbours divided themselves into teams, and hit every room in the house. With one of us supervising in each room, they unpacked our boxes and helped to set up our rooms. The whole job was completed in roughly 3 hours. Not only did they do all this, but they also brought along a potluck supper to share with us because they knew how busy and stressful moving could be, and that we probably wouldnt be able to make our own meal that night. Just about everyone in town was there, and they threw a huge party to celebrate our move to their little village. THAT, my friends, is what community is supposed to be! Since then I have witnessed this type of supportive and friendly community dwindling away, and we as a society have become more self-absorbed, superficial and selfish. We have lost the ability and the desire to be truly and unselfishly compassionate to our fellow humans. We always seem to be looking to see what’s in it for us if we help another. Self-absorbed in that we rarely, if ever, notice what is going on around us. If it doesnt affect us, personally, then it doesnt matter. As long as it’s happening to Joe Blow, then who cares … right? Superficial in that most of our relationships with others are only surface-deep. We choose to not get more involved than casually saying hello now and then, or maybe meeting up for a coffee or a drink. Selfish in that, rather than helping our neighbours to unload, unpack and set up, most will stand by and not lift a finger, and some even watch to see what they may be able to steal later. Selfish in that some will go into another’s home or place of business and either steal things or smash things. Their sole thought seems to be, ‘They have it and I want it. It doesnt matter because it doesn’t belong to me. I didn’t pay for it. It’s not MY money that was wasted.’ This is a religious community, so I’m going to talk to you a little about the Bible. I’m not a religious person, myself … I’m a spiritualist, but I DO recall a few passages from my childhood Sunday school classes. These passages resonated with my sense of fairness. They struck at my very soul, so I took them to heart and I live by them. These passages are also a very solid foundation for building a warm and friendly community. The first passage is: Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. If you don’t want people to be nasty to you, then be kind to them. Don’t steal or vandalize the possessions of others unless you want the same done to you. If you witness someone who needs a helping hand, then offer it, and the same will come to you in your time of need. Kindness and compassion cost us nothing, yet we hoard them as though they are gold. The second passage is: Judge not lest ye be judged. Most people tend to first judge others based only on what they see with their eyes. If our hair isn’t just right, our clothing is too poor or ratty, our face isn’t pretty enough, or our body isn’t the correct shape, then others judge us very harshly. Our TRUE beauty comes from our soul, not from our appearance. Some of the most physically beautiful people in the world have the coldest of hearts. The third passage is: Love thy neighbour as thyself. When this passage was written, there was no specification on size, shape, skin colour, nationality, religion, gender or race. Love thy neighbour. Short, sweet and to the point. Love thy neighbour. There is no motive behind that writing other than unity and community. Love thy neighbour. If you support your neighbours, then they will support you. Love thy neighbour. The fourth and final passage is: Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. There is not one single person here tonight who is without sin. One bible passage states that if you mix your clothing fibres, you have committed a sin. How many of you here are wearing cotton blue jeans with a polyester/cotton blend t-shirt or shirt? So, if you believe that you are better than anyone else here, you are wrong. And if you honestly believe that you are without sin, then I have a rock for you to throw at any person of your choosing. (We will now have a one-minute silent prayer to make your wish. When I say, ‘Amen,’ blow out your candles.) In closing, we come to the reason I first asked you all to stand next to someone you don’t know. Turn to that person now, give them a friendly hug or extend your hand in friendship, and introduce yourself. Get to know your neighbours, without prejudging them on what you see with your eyes. Learn to see with your heart, and “community” will come naturally. Remember to Love thy neighbour. — with Linda Wilhide, Ruwaiz Mohamed, Nazir Raja and 45 others.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Jul 2014 12:18:35 +0000
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