Welcoming the Support of Community

By Marisa Geitner, president and C.E.O.

In our society, we tend to glorify independence. We want to be able to say that we accomplished something all on our own, but the truth is we need each other. Very little is accomplished in pure isolation – and much is accomplished when we work together.

The work we do together here at Heritage Christian is big and meaningful. It is not work that is easily described through the success of projects and tasks, but the sum of our parts BUILDS COMMUNITY!

I recently came across these words from almost 20 years ago, words that still ring true:

“(The Greatest Generation, the men and women who came from the age of the Great Depression) weren’t perfect…. They all recognized that for all of the genius of the American political system and the framework of laws, beginning with the Constitution, the enduring strength of this immigrant nation has been its common ground, wide enough and strong enough to accommodate all races and beliefs. Now great fault lines run through that common ground. We have allowed it to be so fractured we are in danger of becoming less than the sum of our parts.   We have become the culture of cheap confrontation rather than resolution. … no piece of software, no server or search engine will offer you the irreplaceable rewards of a loving personal relationship, the strength and comfort of a real community of shared values and common dreams, the moral underpinning of a life lived well, whatever the financial scorecard.  Nor will this new technology by itself make you more racially tolerant – more sensitive to the plight of the disenfranchised – more courageous to take a firm stand for what you know is right. These are mere tools in your hands.” – Tom Brokaw, from a speech at Santa Fe College in 1999

How will we use our tools today? What will we build, and what foundation will we use?