You belong to a community whether or not you believe it. Community chooses you — absorbs you even. You perform a role in your community — whether you learn your lines or not. However, the play as a whole suffers when you fail to learn your lines. Though the play can recover from one person’s false step, even be considered a success, how much better could it have been had the one done his or her part?
Harding University contains an abundance of people who “learn their lines.” These people are positive forces for Harding and their encompassing community of Searcy. Harding also contains a population of people (like myself) who forget or never realize they impact their Searcy community as long as they exist in it — regardless of their oblivion. The first step in my investigation of who Harding students actually are in this community is to take a look at what I am in my community. Truthfully, I am a student and a consumer. Though neither of those things is bad, I think my community needs more from me. So to those of you who are along for the investigation, I invite you to join me in looking at what you are in your community before going any further; let us explore your role before learning your lines.
Our community-designed roles do not come from an attitude of what we can so graciously bestow upon Searcy. From what I gather, Searcy thinks kindly of Harding, but does not wither away when we are not here. The goal of my assessment is not to prove that Searcy needs us here, but to consider while we are here how we might use our God-given gifts and passions to contribute.
I think thankfulness should be the next step we take before diving any deeper into the assessment of Harding students’ place in Searcy. A variety of businesses, charities, churches, families, etc. invite Harding students to be a part of their practices, visions and plans. Let’s acknowledge how graciously our community prepares places for us to grow alongside our University. Our task becomes all the more urgent when we realize how well our community has served us. The least we can do is simply learn our lines.
Last semester in my American government class, Dr. Lori Klein pointed out a strikingly encouraging element in the Preamble of the United States Constitution: “…and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity…” Posterity means all the future generations to come. The Founding Fathers acted in the present with all of the future generations in mind. Our Searcy community invites us into their lives because they have our future well-being in mind. They better our current lives through employment, friendship, mentorship, church community and planned fun, while equipping us for future careers and opportunities at the same time.
With grateful hearts, let us be contributors to our community, not only because Searcy deserves it, but because our participation in our current community shapes it for those who come after us. Before we assess as a whole, with our posterity in mind, let’s ask ourselves individually: Who am I in my community?