Last week I went with my sister and brother to see the movie, ‘A Man Called Otto’. Tom Hanks plays the main character, Otto, a grumpy older man who has given up on life. He is critical of everyone and everything. I had seen the trailers and I expected the movie to be humorous. There were some funny bits but mostly I found it to be poignant and thoughtful. Otto was a lonely, grieving man. He had no family and his wife had died and all he really wanted was to die so he could be with her.
Otto’s plan for his demise kept getting interrupted by helpful people. The main help came from a family who moved in next door and just would not leave him alone in his funk. Their interruptions came, at first, because they needed help and then, as they got to know Otto their interruptions were interventions of care and concern. In fact, she was relentless in urging Otto to grow out of his negativity and grief. As Otto received their ministrations he began to remember ways he had helped others in the past and he regained his sense of community and neighborliness. In the end I left the theatre feeling pretty good about humanity and with a lot to ponder about community.
In the church we talk a lot about community. We have shifted from calling congregations just that, congregations, and we now call them communities of faith. We talk about reaching beyond our walls into the local community and into the global community. And we talk about the challenges of living in community. I have known a few people in my congregations over the years who resemble Otto – sad, grumpy, critical and desperately needing the community to remind them they are precious and loved by God … and us.
There is an old gospel hymn, ‘Blest be the tie that binds’. We don’t sing it very often. It is old and the words are dated but the sentiment is applicable and needed more than ever in this post covid reality that we find ourselves in… “Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, our comforts and our cares.” … “We share each other’s woes, each others burdens bear; and often for each flows the sympathizing tear.”
Community gets practiced in a variety of ways. The most visible is when we gather on Sunday mornings for worship and the richness of community and connection is lived out in the coffee room after the service. It also happens when friends gather around a family who has lost a loved one and when they gather round a family who welcomes a new family member. It happens in simple ways when someone offers a drive to another who has reached the age where driving to church is not possible. It happens in the simple phone call, email or text that says, “How are you doing?”
We human beings are not solitary creatures. Some, like Otto think they are but even he, when push came to shove, felt the love of another and extended that love to those in need.
If you haven’t seen the movie, I recommend it. It leaves you with a lot to think about.
