Communities all over America are made up of the human family. I think about our humanity a lot....our humaneness to each other.....and what an important role that plays in us being able to solve some of our biggest problems.

When I was a child, my father was a Navy pilot and later became an airline pilot. In both positions, he travelled to other places in the world and brought back stories and gifts from many nations. I always thought "how wonderful" that was, and those experiences are part of my "roots".

I have lived in and visited many towns and communities, and the ones that seemed to be most infused with life and spirit had a tremendous diversity of people and walks of life and there was something intrinsic in each person that made them truly care about their town and what it meant to live there....people allowed to be who they are, coming together with all their diversity present as a community. There is just a feeling of more fun, acceptance, and caring in places like that....there's more kindness, tenderness, mercy and sympathy....the qualities of humanity that are the heart of civilization.

Communities nurture the "opposite" of greed, corruption, and obsession with power...which carry the seeds of violence and destruction. In good communities, each person's individual roots become part of the fabric of a healthy thriving whole that respects and honors each others differences.

Like plants and trees, all of us need stable roots and nurturing. A community that allows
each individual to grow and be truly alive is allowing each person's unique roots and gifts to be a building block for their whole community.

America was founded as a democracy that would flourish in equality and liberty for all people who came from all parts of the globe to settle here. It was built by immigrants from many lands. And, I look at that as something to enjoy and celebrate!