By Kerri Havnen Gordon
During the holidays we open our cupboards, wallets and hearts for food and toy drives - all in the spirit of community. We drop coins into the Salvation Army’s little red buckets, and we read stories in the newspaper about those less fortunate. However, it is when the give-and-take of a community is closer to home that we especially realize the value communities have in our lives.
Take Deb, for example. For years she has been an enthusiastic and tireless volunteer in her school community. Deb is the type of gal who always chips in, the gal you can count on to get something done. She has continually sown the seeds of service and has often received friendship in return.
Then she got a brain tumor. Suddenly the woman who was so quick with a helping hand needed a little help herself. There would be several weeks when she would either be in the hospital or recuperating at home and unable to take care of her family.
The friends Deb made while serving her school community soon rallied in her support. “What can I do to help?” was the common refrain. In the true spirit of caring, her dear friend Peggy coordinated a complex timetable of delivered meals and child-care arrangements. Peggy’s schedule spanned several weeks and included about three dozen names. Mine was listed on Oct. 28, one little name among so many.
Initially, Deb was reluctant to be on the receiving end of such generosity, but her friends insisted. By the time I showed up on Deb’s doorstep with a meal in hand, she had received happy news. The tumor that had been successfully removed was benign, and she was going to be just fine. What an incredible relief.
It is during times of trial that we feel powerless and yet compelled to be of service. Not just in response to crises but throughout the year, we throw small seeds of caring, support and friendship into the world. We sow them selflessly, because we notice a need to be met and we choose to help. This is how successful communities work, it seems.
When a friend is ill or overwhelmed, I sometimes show up with a batch of my tortellini-sausage soup. It’s a hearty, soul-satisfying soup, one I know will be well received wherever it goes. I must have had a lot of ill or overwhelmed friends last winter, because my 14-year-old son came home from school one day, saw a pot of soup on the stove, and asked, “Who’s sick?”
It’s a small thing, making soup, but it is helpful. We all have our own ways of reaching out and connecting with our communities. Mine is making soup and volunteering when I can. My husband turns pictures into DVD musical slide shows for friends, or he installs satellite dishes for them. It matters little how we connect with our communities, just that we do so in ways that are heartfelt and meaningful.
A community is at its best when its members sow even the smallest seeds of caring service all year long. And so we give in ways both simple and significant - to our friends, our neighbors and beyond. This giving is never in expectation that we will receive something in return, but when we connect ourselves to our community, the community just might be there for us when we need it the most.
