Our shared humanity rises above all

In the space of five minutes on a recent Monday morning I was reminded of how precious it is to belong to the human family. Coming out of the grocery store, a woman from my parish waved cheerily to me. Thirty seconds later at the lights another woman called out “Hello!” from her car. A minute later a complete stranger said, “You look fabulous”, as I rounded the corner into my coffee shop, perhaps because I was decked out in layers of pink. There I met my neighbour and his walking group, and we had a bit of a chat about the weather. Five minutes and the world was on my side.

Yesterday, across the nation, we voted. Only each one of us knows what we put on that ballot paper in the cardboard confessional that is the voting booth. We have thought about where our core values lie and what aligns most generally with that. We know that whatever the outcome, there will have to be compromise and goodwill to achieve consensus on plans for the future of our nation.

Does our humanity lie more within our selves or more within our relationships?Credit: Louie Douvis

We hope that our elected representatives care that the common good prevails and that they ensure that fairness, equity, access and justice are the goals for the decision-making that affects us all. And after all the point-scoring and kissed babies and exhausting analysis, we resume our lives today. We will get on with being neighbourly because that’s how we live day to day.

That shared humanity is in the greeting of the young Indian barista who sees me most mornings as I bustle in to read the paper. It is the 612 bus driver who waits for the elderly passenger to be seated before driving off.

It is the amiable shuffle and chat of those who await the opening of the door at the Balwyn library at 10am and who rush in to read the papers. It is my brother who donates $50 each year to the Good Friday Appeal for the Royal Children’s Hospital.

It is the quiet gathering of strangers standing next to each other at the local dawn service on Anzac Day. It is the memory of mateship that lives on and grows in meaning.

Such is life in the suburbs and country towns across the nation. We are loving our neighbours in the incidental ebb and flow of our lives. We have our inner circle, but the outer circle also adds joy and colour to our days.

Whenever we take part in something, and make an effort to engage with others, we are adding a new richness to our lives, and the lives of others. We become more expansive, kinder, gentler, less judgmental.

This is where I cast my vote.

I have faith in the goodness and decency of people.

I believe in the best of them, the best of us.

Ann Rennie is a Catholic educator and author.