Strangers to Neighbors

In person meetings are stressful. I have found the last number of months, as we all slip into post corona gatherings either hybrid or in-person, less of a relief than I thought it would be. I am not ‘socially challenged’, not one who hides in corners, not shy at all and occasionally even given to a bit of grandstanding – at least according to my wife.😏 So this opening stress reference is not merely about extroverts or introverts or social preferences. I’m thinking about this as possibly a post corona (almost post corona?) sociological phenomenon – a new day - a corporate dynamic changing right before and among all of us.

Examples come to mind illustrating ... I don't know what, just stress I suppose. Perhaps at the end of this ramble a theme will have emerged. Perhaps I’ll even conclude that stress is good for us. Maybe!

Traffic. I’m not a timid driver, and also not aggressive. I have spent a considerable chunk of my working years as a professional driver without mishap, and I think I still drive quite normal. In this last week, however, I know there were several persons who would beg to differ. Yesterday it was the unhappy horn of a big white pickup truck who did not like me changing lane into the very one he had in mind. The day before in my rear-view mirror I saw a woman with both arms in the air obviously frustrated because I was driving only the speed limit and there was no open lane either side of me; she perhaps in a huge hurry to pick up her kids at daycare – maybe after a hard day at the office! Day before that it was the middle finger of a young construction worker. Oh my, all this in one week. The irony is that I have  encountered very little of this in my whole lifetime, including 2+ million miles on the highways and interstates of Canada and the U.S! They say mental health is affecting our driving habits. Is it Corona after effects or is it Alberta pre-election blues? I will soon pose this dilemma to my coffee buddies and I know they will add a few tales of their own plus some interesting theories on the cause(s) of all this road stress. 😀

Eating together.  Many modern kitchens, including my daughter’s condo recently purchased, have a design that leaves me kind of confused. Is it a fast food serving facility or is it a kitchen? Latest style homes with counter-like structures and barstools facing the food prep area. Where are the tables and chairs? Usually a dinette or dining room somewhere nearby with table or chairs beladen with shopping bags or purses or IPads and other unrelated non-food items. This arrangement is probably a nod to door-dash or skip-the-dishes or other versions of the fast food world, which has taken hold during covid. [I do not get the logic of extra time at home requiring extra take-out. Why not cook while you’re at home?] Meals complete with table settings and the holy pause for table grace require a bit of assertion. Interesting, the setting and the pause is always appreciated especially if followed by super delicious food. Sit down mealtimes have become a lifestyle challenge.

Singing together. I am a beneficiary of a faith tradition that believes the presence of Almighty God can be fully claimed and experienced simply by gathering for that purpose (Matthew 18:20). Singing together is a celebration of that presence. Within our Christian denomination, even as we have ample ability to provide the power points and lyrics and music on screens, considerable effort has recently been invested in creation of a new hymnbook! The motivation for this is our ongoing theology of community. And surprise, it’s gaining traction! Old hymns, gospel songs with new time signatures and guitar chords, complete with digital version of the new hymnbook is now a considerable gift as we stumble back into church services to be with one another. Unfortunately the return to in-person now also includes the loud rock music option of the church next door. Among the many worship preferences I appreciate the practice of singing together in four-part harmony some of the time, contemporary other times including some African and Spanish tunes, still affirming our basic holy community values.

Being together. Closely related to the above, this one is simply an acknowledgement that we are a part of the whole of God's creation. This is a ‘deep thinker one.' For me in these early retirement years - much reading and volunteer work and also quiet times - it has become increasingly clear that to be alive is to be in relationship, not only with humans but animals and plants as well[i]. “No man is an Island” said Thomas Merton once upon a time[ii]. I find it to be true, even when there is nothing to do. We are made for one another and the lockdowns provided opportunity for us to either meditate and become peaceful with this reality or go crazy. My hunch is that those desperately restless drivers, etc. have not taken advantage of the quiet option and therefore mental illness is in the driver's seat of some of today's traffic!

Knowledge is not the most important pastoral quality. I found out very early in my experience that whatever knowledge I gained in private study needed to be accompanied by silence and meditation to help it to be metered out in a loving way.“Knowledge puffs up while love builds up," so it says in the Bible (1 Corinthians 8:2). I enjoyed a recent article in a denominational magazine about “one-anotherness,” absolutely essential in today’s intercultural church.[iii] Joon Park, pastor in an Edmonton church, notes that there are 339 occurrences of ‘one another’ in the New Testament. He reminds us of the importance of encountering one another in genuine relationships – especially important in this new day as brothers and sisters in the church increasingly of varied ethnic background. 

 

To genuinely encounter one another is essential not only for Christians, but for people of all faiths. This is especially evident as the world emerges out of pandemic wishing we could ignore the warfare in Eastern Europe, East Africa, Middle East, ad nauseam. Recognizing this worldwide dilemma, the latest Calgary observance of United Nations World Interfaith Harmony Week has been kind of prophetic in its creativity. “Strangers to Neighbors” was the theme chosen for this year, meetings to be a hybrid of in-person and Zoom gatherings. Highlight for me was an in-person potluck dinner featuring not only standard North American fare, but halal and kosher and other ethnic contributions – our food offerings carefully labeled and enjoyed by all, fully accommodating dietary constraints. Oh, and no coffee and no strong drink – water only, requiring considerable self-discipline especially by us modernizing Christians! 😮 What a celebration it was to eat together heartily and respectfully. As stated by several participants during the enjoyable food and fellowship, “Not only strangers to neighbors, but strangers to brothers and sisters.” That sentiment of course a stretch, but the neighborhoods in this city are benefiting from the very best possibilities that can happen when neighbors actually meet with one another. 

   

 Not only meet and eat, but why not meet and work together? On the last day of this UNWIHW we had twelve volunteers from our interfaith community join Habitat for Humanity in a BUILD. My muscles slightly sore but totally benefited from the good outdoor stress, and what an inspiring way to provide housing for needy families. 

Obviously in-person or virtual are not the only options. It is also a matter of what we did with our minds (?) in the trauma of Covid and also what we do with our minds and bodies now almost running free! A new day indeed. Some of that is now showing up in driving records and mental health files. And probably also in our file at the end of our day (Hebrews 9:27).

It is a privilege now, whether in worship or work or play among others to discover (rediscover?) the One who is here still, not only with each one of us, but among all of us. 

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[i] See Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass, Milkweed Editions, 2013.

[ii] Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island, Souvenir Press, 1988.

[iii] Canadian Mennonite, Vol 27, no 1, p.5