COMMENTARY

MARK SCHUMANN

From my back porch, where I often sit and write, I can look out on the 20 acres of vegetables, herbs and flowers growing in the Shining Light Garden.  All is quiet in the garden on this Sunday morning.  A few birds are punctuating what would otherwise be Sabbath silence.  In the distance, a hoot owl is sharing her wisdom.

Yesterday, I stopped by the Garden to take pictures to illustrate a story Janie Gould wrote for Inside Vero.   Gould’s account of how founders Joel Bray and Greg Vifiades first began growing food to give away was posted online this morning and will appear in the Jan. 30 issue of Inside Vero’s print edition.

“Every day is a good day to give something away,” Bray says.  His call to generosity reminds me of a saying attributed to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism.  “Make all you can and give all you can,” Wesley said.

Life is forever challenging us to make choices.  In the larger scheme of things, even if some of us lean too far in one direction or another, it seems the universe has a way of maintaining equilibrium.  Some of us may focus almost exclusively on production, while others devote themselves to other vocations.  We are not all called to be moneychangers, just as we are not all cut out for a life of contemplation and prayer.

We each settle on something to do, and if we give our best effort, as singularly focused as we may be, the cosmic economy seems to have a way of accepting our offerings.

This past week, I met a man who spent most of his work life as a journalist, serving last as the managing editor of a daily newspaper in central Indiana.  Having retired from an industry, if not a profession, that is in decline, he now lives with his wife in Kenansville, just north of Yeehaw Junction.  The man who was a journalist is now a naturalist, though it is not as if the two callings are mutually exclusive.  Naturalists come in all stripe, shapes and sizes, not to mention varying philosophical and political persuasions.

In fact, one need not live outside the congestion of urban life to appreciate that we humans are but one of many thousands of species existing interdependently in a complex web of life.  Many nature and landscape photographers are devoted to capturing images that will hopefully inspire urbanites to appreciate, if not visit, the natural wonders that lie beyond our concrete jungles.

In a similar way, when reporting on the life of a community, it seems to me one of the responsibilities of journalists to offer a broad panorama.  Sure, there are now, always have been and always will be political struggles in every community.  We humans are who we are.  We don’t all have the same vision, interests or priorities.  Often, we are not all even looking in the same direction.

News of politics and government, as important as it is to understanding where we are and where we are going, is hardly the sum total of a community.  Because we are so much more than our politics, Inside Vero makes a special effort to tell the stories of “helping hands organizations” like the Shining Light Garden.  Beyond the walls of City Hall, and the County Administration Building and the School Board offices, every day literally thousands of local residents are doing what they can in their own way to make a difference for good.  We are grateful for the opportunity to help tell their story.