Working Together

I just read another one of Sharon Astyk's excellent posts. It was basically an extended question: "So Can (some variations on) Left and (some variations on) Right Work Together?" I replied in the comments, and thought it worth sharing my response here as well:

Like several commenters, I think it is more likely for common people of different political backgrounds to work together than it is for national leaders and movements to cooperate. The sad fact is that it is so often more politically and financially profitable to vilify opponents than to search for common ground, especially when people who do try to put differences aside are merely taken advantage of. I have hope, though, because the small and little-noticed acts of ordinary neighbors working together over time have more power than the top of the establishment. Whether or not public or political cooperation is possible, we should not be discouraged from building community among those with whom we disagree.

My thoughts on the power of ordinary people and their choices are related to another of Sharon's posts, which in my humble opinion is the best blog post ever. They are also in part inspired by Isaiah 61:11 (ESV):

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise
to sprout up before all the nations.

I guess that makes God the original grassroots activist. Seriously though, it's a reminder that there's a reason looking up at the powers that be can be so depressing, and that we are called to be change agents in our immediate community first. God chooses so often to work among the lowly and the ordinary that it's as if his righteousness is sprouting up from underneath us and all around us. May we all be true ministers of reconciliation and build loving community that includes people of differing opinions!