No "Ridin' Solo"

I don't know about you, but I live in Kelowna.  In Kelowna, there are about 106,000 people at last count.  That's a lot of people.  That's a lot of opportunity.

I've just been realizing this in a new way so often over the last month.  I was volunteering twice a week at my chiropractor's office, helping out with front desk and some random chores.  As such, I put away and pulled files several times a day.  Each of those files belong to someone.  Each of those someones has a name.  It was very rewarding for me, personally, to be able to match file names with actual people and to put a name to a face.. even though I hardly ever saw them again.  There are probably over two thousand files in that office.  When I was putting files away, or grabbing them for the doctor, it struck me every time that each of those files represents a real person, with real goals and dreams, real problems - each of those file people mattered to someone and somebody loved them, even though I might not know them personally (and usually didn't). 

The same thing happens when I walk into the mall, or my sister's school, or any busy, public place.  To look up and see people... but then to pay attention and change the way you think, and instead of seeing people, you see individuals.  To look at the man in the trenchcoat who's walking quickly, and to wonder where he's hurrying to.  The young, pregnant lady with a toddler... to wonder if she's on her own or if she's got a loving husband to go home to and help her with her little ones.

I've heard people call this kind of thing stalking.  I would have to disagree.  I'm not actually asking questions, following, or even looking inside the files as I put them away.. I just pause and am reminded that each one of these people have value.

 I was walking to cheer a few weeks ago with my brother (aka close family friend), and we were talking.  He often mentions frustrating situations at work, where he deals with customer service a lot.  I always tell him to keep smiling, and that by smiling he may change that person's day for the better.. or maybe even their life.  I tell him that every time he trains a new employee, even though he has to do everything slowly and perhaps more than once, that maybe he's training the best employee that company will ever have.  Maybe that new guy will revolutionize the way this company works and bring them millions.  And maybe, just maybe, it's all because of the way and manner he was trained in when he first started.  On that particular day, on that particular walk to cheer, we were talking about all the students we'd passed on the way.  And it hit me again. 

There are 106,000 people in Kelowna.  That's 106,000 people that I interact with every day.  That's 106,000 people whose lives could be changed by me, if I take care and produce the effort to make it so.

The big word for me in the last couple of weeks has been COMMUNITY.  I don't think I've understood better than I do now how important community is.

Community is life.  It's protection.  It's comfort, and it's love.  It's provision, it's education, it's opportunity.  It's everything we've ever needed, but we so often choose not to utilize it.  We stick with our small circle of friends and rely on them for everything.  And you know, that's great.  Sometimes, that's all we need.  But the world is big, and there's so much more out there.  All we have to do is step out the front door and look, and we will meet people and have experiences that will change our lives, right in our own city.

Kelowna, especially, has had a strong sense of community in the past because of our forest fires.  People here opened their hearts and their doors for other citizens of the city and surrounding area.  It was amazing. 

But I think it's fading.

A few weeks ago in church my pastor told us a story.  He said that in ancient times, no army would attack Sparta, and that people marveled at the great city because of its strength.  He said that the walls were so high, no arrows could fly over them.  They were so thick, that no battering ram could penetrate them.  They surrounded the city at such great distance that it would be impossible to march around it. 

However, when visitors came looking for the famed walls, they found nothing.  Sparta was an open city with no barriers of any kind at its perimeters.  Confused, they would ask for an explanation of why there was such fame for the walls of Sparta, when clearly none existed. 

The answer they would receive was this.  When we are attacked, every able man helps to defend our city.  Our walls do exist, but only when they need to, only when we create them.  The famed height is because in every row one man stands on another's shoulders.  Battering rams cannot defeat us, because behind every man stands another, and another, and another, all with shields at ready.  They surround the city easily and cannot be penetrated because every man links arms with the one next to him.  Together, Spartans form the walls of Sparta, and we are not easily defeated when we are fighting for our homeland.

I don't know if that's true, but what an amazing story and concept.  To have such a strong community bond that its fame stretches for miles beyond the community's borders.  Obviously, the people of Kelowna aren't going to protect the city from literal invaders... or are they? 

Poverty is an invader.  Sickness is an invader.  Loneliness.  Depression.  Stress.  Even natural disasters like fire.  There is so much we can do to strengthen our community, to build up a network of contacts and a web of people that we help and in turn can be helped by.  Donate to the food bank.  Give blood.  Clean up the streets in your neighbourhood.  Even something as simple as calling a friend and saying, "Hey, how are you doing?  Do you need help with anything?"  If you're not into volunteering type things, try involving yourself in sports.  Don't litter.  Let someone into your lane when you're driving.  Try and make a new friend.  The most easily accomplished and never used community building tool = smile. 

There are 106,000 people in Kelowna.  If you don't live here, I'm sure there are people in your city too.  Look around you.  How many lives can you change today by simply being a better neighbour?