"The essence of charity is for the servant to recount the blessings of his Lord, and to render thanks unto Him at all times and under all conditions." ~Bahá’u’lláh, Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 156
Last night I had the bounty of watching most of a presentation about how the police service in a city had reached out to a faith community to learn about engaging more effectively with the community. This police chief had been sensitive to how marginalised community members were being treated around the country and was moved by the reports of the deaths of certain individuals that he wanted to change the culture of policing in his city. This conversation spread to include prosecutors in the same city. This interested me as I have an interview to be considered as a member of a community action team to serve as a link between the police and the community, which I believe is being convened to further this same conversation. After reflecting on what had been accomplished in this one city and how the conversations were not at an end but continuing, I marveled at how unlikely friendships had been formed and were thriving. Barriers were being lowered and hearts were opening and remaining open. This presentation was so rich with ideas and concepts that I want to replicate in my own community, should I be selected to do this work. I then compared and contrasted the work that had been done in this city to what the process was in my own community. No good could come from this exercise, but I did it anyway. I became angry and frustrated at how a consultant company was making the exercise formal by asking community members to apply by filling out a form and submitting a resume and then was subjecting them to an interview. It seemed to firmly reinforce the very elements of colonialism that is the objective of the action team to dismantle, or at least work toward doing so. This company is assuming the gatekeeping position to unity and therefore stalling progress. Reading the elements of charity and the quotation above helped me to retreat to a more humble posture and withhold my judgments. I recognise that the pathway to unity is wide and long and there are many ways toward it. Some communities possessing a greater degree of fortitude and faith are further along than others. Competition and domination are such strong forces that to move toward a more loving and accepting attitude will take some time and requires a greater degree of patience from me. We will all make mistakes and I need to remind myself that I am included in the "we". I can look toward the featured example of a city doing work that is so valuable to our entire existence as a milestone on this pathway toward understanding our interconnectedness and oneness. I can applaud their efforts and look to them for examples and suggestions for my own community. There is time, it is not a race. This is a powerful movement that will sweep us all up in its wake as its momentum builds.