TJ Hirst

I spotted a silly spectacle on the corner of an intersection here in Brainerd, MN. A piggy-bank pink ox with a Minnesota state quarter descending into its back stands in front of the Brainerd Savings and Loan Association.

More than 20 oxen in colors and patterns beyond the blue of Paul Bunyan’s companion ox, Babe, have appeared to adorn the lawns and fronts of businesses with public art throughout our area.

The Oxtrot, “An Oxpedition of Art in the Lakes Area,” is a cooperative partnership between our local arts organization, the Crossing Arts Alliance, the Brainerd Lakes Chamber and artist, Josh Porter, of Avalon Studios, who designed the original sculpture based on Babe statues in the Brainerd Lakes area.

This particular ox—the first ox I saw—surprised me with his stare at the stoplight. His clever design lightheartedly acknowledges the business it represents while echoing some of the historical and mythical heritage of Minnesota in this sesquicentennial year of statehood. He is known as “Babe’s Bank is Best,” and the finish artist for this statue is Josh Johnson.

My impression is that they look quite a bit like over-sized lawn ornaments with the same kitschy connotations. However, they do create a stir of creativity and fun for area residents and tourists. My children are already counting the ones they’ve seen and creating plans to see them all. Even without knowing about the “Find Babe” campaign or reading Babe’s blog, they said, “it will be a treasure hunt for us to see how many we can find.”

I am the wife of an LDS (Mormon) bishop. My best friend from high school is the wife of a Jewish rabbi. By reconnecting on the Internet we have discovered that as wives of clergy we have a lot in common and that the congregations our husbands lead have far more similarities than we imagined.

A common theme has emerged in my mind as I travel around the world of mothers on the Internet—the deep emotional response of women about the divisiveness in our current world culture.

Robin at Around the Island writes in her post Why Do We Hate,

How is it that so many millions, billions, of people in this world honestly feel it is better to hate and to fear than to extend a hand in friendship? How can anyone raise their children to hate, to fear, even to murder those who are different? Are we really so different from each other? What would happen if we all chose to enact a change, to let that change begin right here, right now. To let go of hate and fear and learn to celebrate our differences.

In another of Robin’s posts, The Importance of a Supportive Community I found another Mother in Israel writing this true statement, “Every family needs to be part of a connected, supportive community.” Her post includes an important list of ways we can make our community stronger.

Building social capital has been a topic in our community of late, and I posted a poll on what helps you feel that you belong to a community.

As I consider Robin’s statement to “celebrate our differences” I wonder if our real purpose is not to find what is different but to find as she says that we “aren’t so different from each other.”

Lis of Woolgatherings, in an interview with Michelle at Scribbit, talks about blogging and staying away from controversial topics like religion and politics. She says,

Although every blogger has the right to include what she wishes on her blog, I don’t think it’s fair to force your opinions on others. I tend to stay away from blogs that are overtly negative or criticize, and especially those that are close-minded. I have one real-life friend whose religious and political views have always been the complete opposite of mine. And yet, we have so much other than that in common.

Our intolerance of differing opinions is contributing to broken families, divided communities and ultimately to hate, fear, murder and war, and that itself is a controversial topic.

However, it is a topic that mothers especially should be considering and writing about in a positive way precisely because as Lis says, “We do have so much in common and we aren’t so different from each other.”

I served as a regional president of a large women’s organization for nearly five years. I found that the more we focused on diversity, the less unity we attained. And, the more we focused on what we have in common, the more unity we gained.

As we aim to build communities throughout the world, despite our differences, our purpose should be to seek unity, not diversity, by finding what we have in common.

There is a movement to highlight diversity as a goal rather than a fact. Differences are real and the very word itself implies a lack of agreement. But magnifying our differences divides us.

In our culture we have come to look for what differentiates us from those we disagree with, explore or magnify those differences, build evidence for our side, find others who agree with us, and ultimately divide ourselves into separate groups who engage in divisive communication with the groups who oppose us.

Once these separate groups occur, we have little ability to move between separate groups and regain or form larger and stronger communities.

The website Indivisible: Stories of American Community

portrays—through the original artistic contributions of leading photographers and interviewers—the creativity, energy, and richness of local involvement in America, a largely untold story of the many individual and combined acts that are shaping communities and ultimately the future of the country.

While each person will have their own experience in this documentary gallery, I am inspired by the similarities of individuals and places, not their differences.

I envision a community to be just what it means—a group of people in the same place or locality who build on their common interests. And our ability to communicate about what makes us compatible will connect our communities, one family to another, the world over.

^{Read more of Finding What Inspires in April when I post the series, “Conversations with a Jewish Rabbi and a Mormon Bishop” on Wednesdays as part of Everyday Biography.}

In Minnesota we joke about only have two seasons, winter and __________ (mosquitoes, road construction, other). In terms of our community it is winter and the time when you see your neighbors again. I just ran into my neighbor at the YMCA and suggested that maybe it is time to start planning another block party.

Our neighborhood is in a growing micropolitan in central Minnesota where two smaller towns have grown together and meshed into a larger community. We also have an influx of seasonal residence in the spring and summer that add to our size. The local newspaper just completed a five-part series on a social capital survey in our community. It defines social capital as

human connections that make for healthier people, neighborhoods and society. Those connections or relationships are considered part of what generates a sense of belonging . . . Research indicates communities rich in social capital tend to have desirable attributes—higher achievements in education, better performance in government, faster economic growth and less crime and violence.

We moved to this community eight years ago today. One neighbor showed up on our doorstep within hours of our arrival with pasties and gardening advice (the garden can’t go in for two more months). Her welcome certainly went a long way in helping us feel a sense of belonging. We have since learned that to belong we have to make an active effort. We have made small and large contributions. One of those contributions is that my husband started a business here. His business partner recently wrote about this community survey and what it means for someone who has moved from outside the area to build a business here.

 Loading …

This weekend, we traveled the rural two-lane highways of northern Minnesota in horribly frigid temperatures of minus 20 degrees below 0 (double that in wind chills) to take some teenagers to a youth group activity and dance in Duluth. On the return trip Saturday evening we approached the small community of Cromwell, MN, and spotted a chimney fire blazing atop a two-story house alongside Hwy 210. A few lights were on in the house, but no activity was evident outside. “They don’t know!” was our first response.

We all grabbed at cell phones, but we were close to the gas station at the center of town so we stopped there to report the fire. Ironically, we hadn’t noticed that the fire hall was right next to the gas station. The clerks called the fire department. One thought she knew the older single woman who lived in that house so we returned to the house to alert the occupants. “In this town, the firefighters will all be volunteers,” my husband said.

The intensity of the fire had escaped further down the chimney and we could just see the sparks spewing out the top. We followed the driveway to the back door where another driver in a truck had seen the fire and stopped to help. He had knocked to no avail. “Has someone reported it?” he asked.

We drove around the house, looking for another entrance and returned to the back. A passenger in our car rang the doorbell and tried the door, but it was locked and the fenced dogs barked at our intrusion. Knowing the fire truck would be here soon and not wanting to be in the way, we turned back to the highway.

Indeed, the fire truck was pulling out of the fire hall, but it stopped to wait for the volunteers. My husband pulled up to the truck, reported what we knew, and said, “Do you have it from here?”

Of course they did. Volunteers, like these, are indispensable in small communities. Those who offer to perform a service of his or her own free will, those who render aid or those who assume an obligation deserve not only appreciation but emulation.

This experience sparked me to re-engage in community service. I don’t mean I immediately signed up for an organized volunteer position (although that could be one way to help). Rather, it means I will be a more active and aware participant in any community to which I belong, taking a cue from my husband’s often-used phrase.

Here’s How to “Be Aware of Your Surroundings”:

1. Be observant. See other people and situations outside of our own concerns. Look beyond our usual line of sight at the verbal and nonverbal clues that tell us something may not be normal.
2. Be available. Don’t over schedule ourselves so we are too busy or distracted.
3. Be willing to offer to help or accept responsibility until someone more qualified can take over.

Such service not only strengthens our communities it reconnects us to them, whether it is family, school, church, work, or municipal. When we are an active and aware participant we feel a greater sense of concern for the issues and individuals and become a real part of that group.