Building A Better Community

 This Christmas I invited a large group of people to go  carolling with me for the first time since I was a young adult. I used to go often as a child from door to door in my own neighbourhood. I remember how welcoming my neighbours were, and how they would have Christmas treats waiting at the door for us carollers. It was a wonderful time to connect with neighbours and bring some Christmas cheer through music. I loved it. It gave me such a strong sense of community identity.

 This year was so different! Many people in my own neighbourhood wouldn't come out of their homes and even seemed frightened to open their doors to us. Some would look out the window at us waiting to sing for them, shut out the lights and walk away! Some happily opened their doors and even thanked us for the lovely music but the majority did not. 

 To be honest, at first I was a bit discouraged. I wondered why people would be so cold and reject an obvious gift. After some contemplation though; I realised there might be more to it than meets the eye.


 I believe the underlying issue is a general lack of trust. My age group is faced with the challenges of needing to raise our children to be stranger aware, avoid cyber-bullying, be self-reliant and avoid being taken advantage of, amongst a myriad of other challenges. The task can be quite daunting! These issues are all very important to address. Our children need to be safe and proactive, yet, we can actually swing to the opposite extreme and become distrusting and even fearful. I believe this can lead to a general isolation and alienation from our communities. 

I sense this issue of mistrust has to be addressed on a personal level before it can be solved on a community level. The question I had to ask myself was, "Do I really trust the people around me?" and if I don't,"why not?". I was surprised to discover that deep down inside, I still don't let people in past a certain point. In a sense, it is a learned behaviour. It is a perceived way of staying safe. I also think there is a part of me that perceives that perhaps people don't want to come any closer to me.

The bottom line is; we need each other. The people you are surrounded by, are there for a reason. Even the ones that we don't relate to as easily, or rub us the wrong way. Those are the ones in some ways, that teach us the most about what is really going on inside of us. When we don't let these people around us in, I think we are tragically missing out on the incredible opportunity of growing as a people together. Practising better community means letting people in. Seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly. All of it I believe, fosters trust.

Make a point this next week or so, to choose to let someone in to your life a little more than you ever have. Try to foster community by trusting just a little more than you ever have. I believe you will be surprised at the many benefits it will produce!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!