Creating Community

There are days when I am saddened by the impersonal, self-centered, disconnected world we have created. With AI, and our inability to tell whether the person answering the phone or email is a human or a bot, it will only get more challenging.

On my walks and runs, I am now often greeted by “Hello” and turn my head in excitement, only to realize it is someone’s security system saying to all passer-by’s “Hello, you are being recorded.”

Not exactly the best way to build community, huh?

But, I also see the other side.

My neighbor Cathi whose chickens lay nice eggs that I then buy from her.

My neighbor Roger who sprinkled us with water from the hose on a recent run by his house.

My neighbors Tim and Jessica who let me pick fruit from their trees.

The Sanchez family who actually thank me for picking their cherries. “It should be me thanking you,” I always respond.

The folks with amazing grapes along the ditch who came out to see what I was doing, and instead of yelling at me, offered me bags to collect the grapes in.

[Yes, I really love picking fruit. “I am a forager, not a grower,” I tell folks.]

And then there was the recent visit to Gyros Mediterranean where they insisted on some baklava on the house just because I coached the owner’s daughter.

[Yes, the larger theme here is that Anthony loves free food]

And in my recent health challenges, the multitude of people who have showered my family and me with kindness on a daily basis.

So, as I take it all in, here are my thoughts:

If we value community, we have to do the work to create it.  Contributing to and serving our relatives, our neighbors, and even the strangers in our midst. Receiving from them in return.

Increasingly, this requires us to go against the grain of tech-infatuated society. It requires us to resist tantalizing things offered to us, always with a promise of making our life easier. Yes, but at what cost? And is the easy life a fulfilled one?

And for those who read these words and feel the same frustration I feel when tricked by the electronic security systems offering me a threatening “hello”, maybe the key to creating community is closer and simpler than you think.

Maybe it is going to say hello to the new person who just moved in down the street.

Maybe it is offering some fruit to a passer-by.

Maybe it is the random act of kindness for a loved one that you are going to do today.

Love to each of you this Monday!

And momma, a very happy birthday to you today. You are an amazing guiding light in my life. Everything I write and do is a reflection of you.