I’m headed to my Annual Conference in Corpus Christi this week, so I won’t be around to write this article when I usually would. I’m writing this on Monday, the 15th – but you’ll be reading it on Thursday, the 25th – ten days later. I point that out because someone might ruin my story between now and then – but I pray not.
If you’re not aware of it already, there has been an outpouring of stories and posts on social media about the World Cup which has just gotten under way in this country (GO USA!). Teams from the far corners of the globe are here to compete to be champions of a truly worldly tournament. And what is coming out on all these platforms are stories of people interacting with the teams. Stories from an elder lady living next to the Airbnb where the team is staying; bringing them a pie she baked – to some of the students at Kansas State University wearing the team’s colors and cheering as the team practiced on one of their fields. Random acts of kindness – big and small – pouring out to these strangers, many of whom have never been to this country. And I remarked to several people this week, “This is what America is!”
There is something to be said for the military and for laws and freedom. But the greatness of America is the one who makes dinner for a neighbor after a personal tragedy. It’s the person who mows their neighbor’s yard because they are elderly or just back from the hospital. It’s the mom who takes the children of a single, working mom to school with her own children and picks them up. We don’t need to make America great again because America never stopped being great. The issue is that: the greatness is in the quiet part… the everyday part… the mostly unnoticed part. The part that, without social media, you wouldn’t be reminded of it.
But the greatness of America is still there – we just have to look past the gloom and doom that is shoved in front of our faces every day. There has always been gloom and doom, but we have never been exposed to it at the levels that exist today. As we look at this part of social media (and yes, social media CAN be a GOOD thing when used correctly) and we pull back the blanket of fear mongering; we will find a STILL great America lurking underneath. We should always look for those opportunities to do… and I hesitate to say the “right” thing, because it infers if we miss the opportunity, we do the “wrong” thing… instead, to do the kind thing… to do the gracious thing… to do the friendly thing… to do the neighborly thing. It is in these kinds of acts that America’s greatness shines.
Reach me at pastordaveumc@gmail.com
