"No one changes his or her life overnight. A few changes that last for the rest of your life are far more powerful in their impact than dozens of changes that you can only sustain for six months or a year. The trick to changing your daily actions permanently lies in your finding a way of living that integrates your desire to make the world better with your desire to pursue your own personal dreams." --The Better World Handbook
I often become overwhelmed in trying to figure out how to live out community and feeling that I need to change everything in my life to accomplish this. There are two commercials (not that I am trying to promote consumerism here) that speak out community to me and give me hope that it isn't as complicated as I try to make it. The first one is the Coca-Cola commercial that says, "You give a little love and it all comes back to you...you know you gonna be remembered for the things you say and do." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBKaLN5zU9Y
And the other one (an insurance commercial?) shows how one person helps someone in a small way and then that person helps another and the chain continues until it comes full circle.
Yesterday, I witnessed this "community" living from my kitchen window. The garbage truck pulled up and our next door neighbor (80ish) came walking out with a paper bag of goodies in hand and gave them to th
e driver of the truck. The two men, working outside the truck, emptied her trash cans and then kindly returned them back inside her fenced yard so she would not have to. This is our neighbor who also pulls in our garbage can and often sweeps our driveway (we think because we have allowed her family to park in our driveway when they come to visit her). After witnessing this interaction, it made me want to know the people of my neighborhood, whether it is the garbage men, the mailman, or my next door neighbor and to not stop short of just saying "hi" but displaying some act of kindness in their life. My challenge this week is to find one small way to live out community that will be impacting and also permanent.
e driver of the truck. The two men, working outside the truck, emptied her trash cans and then kindly returned them back inside her fenced yard so she would not have to. This is our neighbor who also pulls in our garbage can and often sweeps our driveway (we think because we have allowed her family to park in our driveway when they come to visit her). After witnessing this interaction, it made me want to know the people of my neighborhood, whether it is the garbage men, the mailman, or my next door neighbor and to not stop short of just saying "hi" but displaying some act of kindness in their life. My challenge this week is to find one small way to live out community that will be impacting and also permanent. -Sarah
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