Voices from the Heart of the Land: Rural Stories that Inspire Community

Community

RURAL STORIES THAT INSPIRE COMMUNITY 81 3 COMMUNITY VOICES FROM THE HEART OF THE LAND 82 “Multiply picnics.” — Henry Ward Beecher, preacher and writer As the settlers succeeded — at first in surviving, and then thriving in so many ways — and as they began to recognize their success and look for patterns they could replicate in their interaction with the land, they also became more aware of the importance of their interactions with each other — and the realization that their human community also played a large role in the success of this experiment — in their success at surviving, and also in their appreciation and enjoyment of life. So we must look at the values our narrators express in regard to how they treat each other — and, as it turns out, how mutual respect and interdependence have served as the bedrocks of their lives and of their community . Robert Putman, in his national bestseller Bowling Alone (Simon & Schuster, 2000), thoughtfully showed us what perhaps we had already sensed: for the first two-thirds of Community RURAL STORIES THAT INSPIRE COMMUNITY 83 the twentieth century, Americans were actively and intricately involved in the life of their community; then, due to a number of influences — including (in his words) “television, two-career families, suburban sprawl [and] generational changes in values” — the tide reversed, pulling us apart from one another and from our communities. Putnam’s idea was that individuals’ many close connections and involvements with each other in the day-to-day occurrences of social life added up to what he called “social capital” — the “money in the bank” that kept communities (and society) functioning smoothly and effectively, to everyone’s mutual benefit. As people became more isolated, our “social capital” diminished and our communities became less functional, less effective, less nurturing. These days, when we are fortunate enough to be able to join and build communities, we form them just as we did then but with a significant difference: now we each belong to multiple communities — a work community, a “neighborhood”community on our block or in the building where we live, a community of our children’s school friends, and others — each distinct and clearly delineated. In contrast, the community experienced by our narrators was a single, all-encompassing network enfolding land and work, learning and social services, mutual support and fun, and social rituals and matters spiritual. From our vantage point today, this is a powerful social construct. It was probably a powerful experience for our narrators’ ancestors, too. Though they certainly came from “communities” in the Old World, it is easy to speculate that those communities were different in nature. A cornerstone of American culture is the tenet that an individual has a right to choose his or her destiny. Our European settlers emigrated from aristocracies, where human VOICES FROM THE HEART OF THE LAND 84 beings were defined and destined by birthrights. A nobleman was entitled to rights and wealth, a serf to a life of labor on behalf of others. Our rural settlers recognized a freedom to work for their own benefit, and they sought it with gusto. And so a “work culture” emerged and was passed down. On the American frontier, everyone was more or less equal. Most people were involved in the same types of work, with the same resources, advantages, and challenges. Their individual performance and progress could be compared to that of their neighbors. Education in life skills was shared between neighbors. In fact, nearly everything they confronted in life — from challenges in animal husbandry to land cultivation practices to courtship behavior to their spiritual relationship with their environment — was mirrored in the experiences of their neighbors and shared between them. What an intense experiment , what a potent way of life! The voices speaking throughout this book understand what is of value about the land and community in ways that speak to the heart and soul of humanity. Their stories are those of shared responsibility, shared work on each others’ farms, friendship, camaraderie, forgiveness, laughter, compassion, and empathy. Listen, in this chapter, to what they say about how they valued each other, how important they were to each other. They courted, cooked, nursed, and nurtured . . . they made up each others’ world: heard each other calling their cows, married each other, took care of each other, laughed at each others’ idiosyncrasies and their own...