Down to Earth, if just for a moment
published in the Boulder Daily Camera, 9/29/13
Every few years, I go down to Mexico with my church group and build a home for a family that has been living in a cardboard shack. The families aren't necessarily Christians or even churchgoers, just people in great need. As much as we might want to spend our time with these families sharing our spiritual beliefs, we found it was hard for people who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads to focus on big ideas and philosophical viewpoints.
I'm sure that there are many of us in Boulder who understand that better today than we did just a few weeks ago.
To Boulder's great credit, we are a town full of citizens who view our civic duties as extending beyond our personal, family, and community interests. In Boulder, we think big thoughts and set grand goals that are often aimed at matters of national and global concern.
Just look at the past year. We're considering electrical municipalization because, while it may lower rates and improve reliability, it might also show other towns how to better address global warming. We considered a sister city in the Arab world because we hoped this relationship would further world peace. We hosted the 65th Conference on World Affairs. Even Stephen King recognized Boulder's outsized role in the world when, in the epic battle between good and evil in "The Stand," Boulder was the town where all the good guys came together to save the world. Boulder has a deserved reputation for playing above its weight in world issues.
While there are some who think that Boulderites should mind their own business and quit telling everyone else how to live, I don't share that view. We are a university town where our academic community has a mission to prepare students for their role in a diverse and complex world. We sit in the middle of America -- where the Midwest meets the West -- so we always view our nation through these two different cultural lenses. We are well educated, healthy, and travel extensively, all of which open our eyes to the world. Whatever side of any issue you might sit on, it is a privilege to live in a town that takes the time to try to understand and help the world beyond its borders.
But, grand ideas should always be conceived from the inside-out as well as the top-down, so we should never lose touch with our own center that informs us of the basic needs that shape human lives. I think many would agree that, in Boulder's quest to save the world, our senses of perspective and humility are sometimes lost.
These past few weeks have guided us all back to our center. As the rain fell and the floods came, we found ourselves worried less about the big issues of our time and more about our neighbors, our children, and our community. For a week, we focused on nothing but surviving the floods and defending our infrastructure, institutions, homes, and families. The next week, we worked on getting our lives back -- our basements dry, our kids in school, and our workplaces back up and running. As we worked, we hoped that the life and community we had before the floods would be returned to us someday soon. Mother nature, as she often does, took a moment to remind us that the things that matter most are at home and how much we miss them when they were gone.
It does take rain to make things grow, and, for Boulder over the past few weeks, maybe that isn't just a metaphor. As the floods recede and Boulder heals, our attention will inevitably begin to shift back to the big issues and our grand plans for making the world a better place. We will, once again, assume our role as players on a larger stage than might be expected of a small town at the base of the Rockies. But, we will do so a little bit wiser with our senses of humility and perspective restored to a more rightful place.
As our memories of the floods recede, we all might be well served by keeping this newfound wisdom in our pockets. From time to time, we should pull out the memories of the past few weeks and consider what they taught us about ourselves and our community. That will surely keep us more centered and it might just help us be a little bit better at saving the world, too.
Every few years, I go down to Mexico with my church group and build a home for a family that has been living in a cardboard shack. The families aren't necessarily Christians or even churchgoers, just people in great need. As much as we might want to spend our time with these families sharing our spiritual beliefs, we found it was hard for people who are struggling to keep a roof over their heads to focus on big ideas and philosophical viewpoints.
I'm sure that there are many of us in Boulder who understand that better today than we did just a few weeks ago.
To Boulder's great credit, we are a town full of citizens who view our civic duties as extending beyond our personal, family, and community interests. In Boulder, we think big thoughts and set grand goals that are often aimed at matters of national and global concern.
Just look at the past year. We're considering electrical municipalization because, while it may lower rates and improve reliability, it might also show other towns how to better address global warming. We considered a sister city in the Arab world because we hoped this relationship would further world peace. We hosted the 65th Conference on World Affairs. Even Stephen King recognized Boulder's outsized role in the world when, in the epic battle between good and evil in "The Stand," Boulder was the town where all the good guys came together to save the world. Boulder has a deserved reputation for playing above its weight in world issues.
While there are some who think that Boulderites should mind their own business and quit telling everyone else how to live, I don't share that view. We are a university town where our academic community has a mission to prepare students for their role in a diverse and complex world. We sit in the middle of America -- where the Midwest meets the West -- so we always view our nation through these two different cultural lenses. We are well educated, healthy, and travel extensively, all of which open our eyes to the world. Whatever side of any issue you might sit on, it is a privilege to live in a town that takes the time to try to understand and help the world beyond its borders.
But, grand ideas should always be conceived from the inside-out as well as the top-down, so we should never lose touch with our own center that informs us of the basic needs that shape human lives. I think many would agree that, in Boulder's quest to save the world, our senses of perspective and humility are sometimes lost.
These past few weeks have guided us all back to our center. As the rain fell and the floods came, we found ourselves worried less about the big issues of our time and more about our neighbors, our children, and our community. For a week, we focused on nothing but surviving the floods and defending our infrastructure, institutions, homes, and families. The next week, we worked on getting our lives back -- our basements dry, our kids in school, and our workplaces back up and running. As we worked, we hoped that the life and community we had before the floods would be returned to us someday soon. Mother nature, as she often does, took a moment to remind us that the things that matter most are at home and how much we miss them when they were gone.
It does take rain to make things grow, and, for Boulder over the past few weeks, maybe that isn't just a metaphor. As the floods recede and Boulder heals, our attention will inevitably begin to shift back to the big issues and our grand plans for making the world a better place. We will, once again, assume our role as players on a larger stage than might be expected of a small town at the base of the Rockies. But, we will do so a little bit wiser with our senses of humility and perspective restored to a more rightful place.
As our memories of the floods recede, we all might be well served by keeping this newfound wisdom in our pockets. From time to time, we should pull out the memories of the past few weeks and consider what they taught us about ourselves and our community. That will surely keep us more centered and it might just help us be a little bit better at saving the world, too.