Michael J. Drury

I see many good things going on in our community. It makes me proud to live and work in it and certainly to bring entertainment to it. We have so much to be thankful for, and I like to believe we are ONE community! Straight, gay, bi, trans, questioning…whatever. We’re all human beings part of the larger group. The most important part of the word community is ‘unity’.

If we are truly ‘unified’ then I wonder why we aren’t more aware of the way we treat each other. If we don’t agree with someone, then suddenly they’re out! We want equal rights and to be treated equitably; but we have a tendency to dishonor each other within our very own community, rarely giving someone else the same courtesy that we demand for ourselves.

How often do we truly take the time to look on the inside of a person, whether they are in our ‘community’ or not? Do we really want to know what beats under the skin of another person?

I suggest that we don’t normally look beyond the surface of a person, and I’d further suggest that we are missing out on a world we don’t even know exists. Are we afraid that if we don’t strike first that they will strike at us? If we took the time to really look outside ourselves, at the broader human community, might we not find a world that is loving and accepting, fair and kind, supportive and beautiful…all the things we say we want for ourselves and the ones we love?

Anne Frank, in the midst of her isolation, wrote "Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart." Call me a Pollyanna, but I agree with Anne; and when I look I’m always surprised by the goodness of people that I was once afraid of. I offer to you that if we approach someone else in our community with the intention of finding out how good they are, we might not only find a new friend, but we might help to ‘unify’ the world.

Anne also wrote, "Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!"

What is OUR potential?