While driving to an appointment the other day, I turned on my car radio and  stumbled into  the middle of an NPR piece on neighborhoods. I didn’t catch the whole segment. But I did hear a man talk about how tight his neighborhood was – how everybody watched out for everyone else, paid extra attention to a house when the owners were on vacation, and so on. In essence, it appeared the  residents in his block treated each other like  extensions of their own families.

I live in a wonderful neighborhood, a beautiful mix of young and old, families and retirees – and  a varied blend of different cultures. We all take care of  each other, pick up the mail and newspapers when someone is out of town, visit each other in the street, and get concerned when there is news of an illness. Last winter presented many opportunities for clearing snow from the driveways of those unable to do so themselves.  For many years my wife and I hosted an annual neighborhood pot luck. We wanted to acknowledge the importance of community, our community of neighbors and friends.

Isn’t this the way it should be everywhere? Working together collaboratively and cooperatively to meet the needs and interests of each other. Helping, caring, loving, living in peace  in the spirit of a vibrant world community.