Sharing by Barry Hughes

Being a book person and avid reader, I love the fact that, if one walks the streets in this neighborhood, one will randomly find themselves at a Little Free Library. 

In the little bestseller, “All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten”, Robert Fulghum listed the practice of sharing as one of the foundational attitudes of a healthy, productive and purposeful life. As neighbors share their books, I like to pause from time to time to check out the titles. I then find myself trying to match the books to the people I see. “I bet that’s the young family trying to diagnose childhood illnesses.” “That person looks like a scrapbooker to me.” “That couple could easily be the bikers on the block.” And on and on it goes. A pointless exercise for sure, but in a strange way it makes me want to know my neighbors. They have shared a glimpse into who they are by the sharing of their books.

C.S. Lewis wrote, “We read to know that we are not alone.” As I have grown older, I know this is true in my own experience. I want to know that there are those out there who share my interests. I want to know that someone, somewhere, feels my pain and understands my fear and embraces the love I long to both find and share. 

In these long, drawn-out days of pandemic, we are acutely aware that we are not alone. We are not alone in our frustrations. We are not alone in our anxiety. We are not alone in our desire for life to go back to what it once was. We are not alone in our hopes and dreams.

If this is the case, we face some questions. What of myself am I willing to freely share? What can I give that helps another know that they are not alone? Who in my socially distanced web of relationships needs to know that someone understands?

Jesus shared with his followers this simple and profound truth: People will know you follow me by the way that you love. What might I lovingly share of myself this day?

Peace.

-Barry Hughes