Proverbs 29:18
In my last post I talked about what it's like to be a young person in Nova Scotia.
Now, I will write a little bit of my vision of what Nova Scotia could be like. Here in Nova Scotia, we may find it hard to see beyond the current issues. People are growing older and communities are dying out. Young people are leaving. Rural schools are closing. You all know the story. It seems that there is no way out of this quandary.
I am not attempting to find a way out of this predicament. What I am doing, though, is sharing a vision. This is a vision for prosperous, resilient communities. I am not drawing a map of how to arrive at this destination, but I am sharing some of the characteristics of what my dream for Nova Scotia is.
So please. Dream with me.
My dream Nova Scotia has a far more localized economy. This economy is less reliant on fossil fuels and more reliant on neighbours. It is an economy based not on competition but on cooperation. Instead of always trying to get more stuff, we do more with the stuff we have. It is an economy where waste is minimized. It is an economy where, instead of exploiting our natural resources, we use them within reasonable limits. We will make the world a better piece of ground.
In my dream Nova Scotia, the economy and the community are interconnected. We will make things together. We will know the people who make our things. We will share resources and ideas. Those in need will find a place to work, to eat, and to be a part of a loving community. The mentally ill will find support networks; my dream Nova Scotia has nobody on the margins. It is a place where First Nations people work, live, and sing alongside Acadians, African Nova Scotians, immigrants, all of us. My dream Nova Scotia has a mosaic of cultures, and none is better, but all are celebrated. In my dream Nova Scotia, the old and the young support each other.
My dream Nova Scotia also has a lot of singing and music and other artistic expressions of beauty.
Hopefully you can get the gist. In my dream Nova Scotia, everyone has a place. Prosperity is found not in having more wealth, but in effectively spreading and using the immense wealth we have. As Wendell Berry says "What we need is here."
The truth is that my dream for Nova Scotia is pretty idealistic. Actually, my dream for Nova Scotia is rooted in spirituality. More specifically, Christian spirituality. Even more specifically, Jesus' Kingdom.
I believe that these dreams will only come true through a true spiritual revival in our province.
I believe only God can change people's hearts.
I believe true, thriving community can only come through a shared commitment to following Jesus.
I believe Jesus is calling us to start living in the kind of community I have just described.
As a Christian, I ask "What does loving my neighbour look like?"
Loving my neighbour looks like repenting for the injustices of the past (think Africville, residential schools, Home for Coloured Children...) and working actively for justice today.
Loving my neighbour looks like changing my attitude from "I deserve" to "What can I give?"
Loving my neighbour looks like cultivating community. It looks like inviting people over for a meal, even if they are outside my typical social group. It looks like giving up an evening of Netflix in favour of investing time with children.
Loving my neighbour looks like praying for my community. It looks like calling on Jesus to change the lives of people in our province; to give our leaders wisdom; and most of all, to continue to change my heart.
Loving my neighbour looks like making things, and sharing things, whether it is growing vegetables in a garden and sharing it, pickling homemade salsa, making bread and eating it together, homebrewing beer, constructing a bookshelf, sewing a blanket, or drawing a picture.
Ultimately, loving my neighbour looks like putting the needs of my neighbour before my own.
See why I dream? Imagine if everyone in Nova Scotia had this Holy Spirit-empowered attitude. Our economic and social structures would TOTALLY change for the better. Someday, God's Kingdom will be come, and His will will be done, fully, on earth as it is in heaven. Until then, dream with me. Pray with me. Let's start cultivating Kingdom community.
