Love Your Neighbor

Several hours before the meal begins, a few neighbors transform one of the cul-de-sacs into an outdoor dining area. They assemble a menagerie of donated card tables to create one banquet table extending the length of the street. We then fill our plates with samples of each creation and eat until we can barely walk home. The meal is a success due to each person’s individual offering. 

I recently attended a human-rights rally and was struck by the correlation to our annual pot-luck. A variety of contributions toward one goal.

 Some marched for hours waving professionally-made banners while others sat in wheelchairs quietly holding homemade signs.  Some were part of large groups with well-organized platforms while others came alone to observe and learn. Some brought microphones and made eloquent speeches while others listened silently. Some distributed material promoting promising candidates while others handed out Tootsie Pops and handwritten notes reminding us to love our neighbors. Each trying to change big systems in incremental ways.

There were groups that provide affordable child-care for low-income families and others that bring tutors into under-resourced schools. I met a collection of priests who open their churches to the homeless every night and a group of retired nuns who teach English to immigrants at a local library. There were barbers who give free haircuts at a shelter and dentists who treat patients without insurance. A wide variety of organizations, each with a unique approach but aimed at a common goal – dignity and respect for all.

 Responsibility for an entire community meal is daunting. However, when everyone contributes their special dish, the event is a success. Likewise, we only thrive as a society when we combine talents.; when we each bring that which we do well and make space for what others have to offer. We flourish as a nation when we remember we belong to each other.