What do you do to be involved in the community?
Some say a married couple without children isn’t considered a family; similarly, a community without diverse families may not feel whole. A community can form around a single race or embrace many racial groups. But if we want to do things together, we must first set aside our differences and help one another connect.
What makes a community strong is its people—and what makes people strong is love. Love means sharing and accepting our differences in culture, customs, and values. Love transforms those differences into harmonious relationships. Mutual respect builds trust, and trust brings all hands together to build and sustain the community.
In the 1970s, a songwriter from my hometown wrote a song that went viral—because it aligned people’s hearts with the goal of developing our town into a satellite city. That song helped sustain our thriving spirit through challenges and difficulties, and it became a collective pride in our city’s successful development. Even today, it lingers in the hearts of all who contributed.
So what do I do to be involved in the community? Many small, doable things: share a smile with a passerby, forgive someone who accidentally bumps into you, give up your seat for someone in need, help an elderly person cross the road. These small acts help others to see our community as a cohesive, welcoming place.
Yesterday, I walked past a man in a wheelchair displaying copies of a book titled Exchanging Your Smiles with a price tag. He didn’t shout or gesture to make a sale—but his silence captured my attention. I stopped, chatted with him to make him feel welcomed and encouraged, bought several copies for my students, and left with a blessing for him.
A cohesive community starts from a cohesive home. If you get into the habit of helping each other and appreciating differences within your family, that affection will extend into the community. Then there will be more smiles than quarrels—both at home and beyond.
No one should be forgotten by their community. In my homeland, I am part of this community, so I love to help others to feel remembered. And as I do this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I help others to see that God is love—and that they are never forgotten by God (1 John 4:16; John 3:16).
✨✨💖 ~
en yan hua fang 