{"id":1443,"date":"2021-03-03T16:35:24","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T21:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redchairblogs.wpengine.com\/holymoly\/?p=1443"},"modified":"2021-03-03T16:35:24","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T21:35:24","slug":"caring-for-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/2021\/03\/03\/caring-for-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Caring for Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the Ten Commitments in Humanism is ethical development, working to become a better person. What does this look like? I wonder as I watch ladybugs bunch together on my chandelier for warmth. They stick together.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is <\/span>becoming a better person<\/span><\/i> about taking care of one\u2019s community?<\/span> Which community\u2014work, family, friends, one\u2019s neighborhood, township, city? It can all become overwhelming. Where do we start? Should we, can we, serve more than one community?<\/span><\/p>\n

I think of the University\u2019s food pantry, the one outside Spiritual Life. Each time I get groceries, I purchase items for it\u2014soups, noodles, peanut butter. Having tended to the pantry last spring when the University\u2019s grounds were closed, I know that community members frequently visit it for foodstuffs. Contributing items to our pantry serves two communities, members of our University and members of Lynchburg City.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I also care for my community of artists. Each week, I send handwritten letters to writer friends in West Virginia, Maryland, and Arizona. I hold them close through cursive penmanship. I tend to the poems they send me, offer whatever advice swells inside as I read their heart work. Through our letters, we also talk about living during a pandemic, our hopes and fears. We hug each other through drawn hearts or flower stickers.<\/span><\/p>\n

I extend this care of letters to writers on campus. In my Introduction to Creative Writing class, I write to each student concerning the pieces they create. I give thanks for their sharing, offer praise and careful criticism. I work to go beyond the standard feedback of <\/span>this works <\/span><\/i>and<\/span> this doesn\u2019t<\/span><\/i>. I see them as artists, encourage them to see themselves the same. I think of the kindness my mentors at West Virginia Wesleyan College extended to me, the heedful letters of encouragement and advice, letters that took time to write. Educating writers goes beyond a letter grade. I bring them into the community of art, demonstrating how we show each other respect through caring.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0A considerable part of becoming a better person involves caring for others. We should not only be mindful of community during trying times. Every day is a trying time for someone. We can never be sure of what the members of our communities are experiencing in private. Perhaps we should always have community in the front of our minds, on the tips of our fingers. When we stick together, whatever that may look like, we remember warmth, our shared experience of being human. The blessing is our being in this together. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the Ten Commitments in Humanism is ethical development, working to become a better person. What does this look like? I wonder as I watch ladybugs bunch together on my chandelier for warmth. They stick together. Is becoming a …<\/p>\n

Caring for Community<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jeremy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1QIf6-nh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1443"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1443\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lynchburg.edu\/holymoly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}