Many years ago, I met a fellow in Inverness, Scotland. I was a young church minister in my twenties, and he was in his mid fifties and a recovering alcoholic. He started coming to our church and we formed a strong friendship over the years. He used to talk about two fellowships in his life, the fellowship of the church, and "the other fellowship," referring to his connection with Alcoholics Anonymous. Being young and overly-zealous, I used to feel uncomfortable when he compared AA to a church, and I used to try to correct him. It is funny how three decades later I see how foolish I was.
Fellowship is not exclusively a religious term, even though I used to think it was. An online dictionary defines it thus, "The condition or relation of being a fellow, friendly relationship, companionship, community of interest or feeling." For my friend back then, AA was a fellowship in every sense of the word, and I have met other members of AA over the years, and they feel exactly the same way. It is truly an amazing organization that offers the support no other group can, for people suffering the challenges of addiction.
A fine example of fellowship exists in the world of rodeo. As I sat in the announcer's booth at the recent Moose Mountain Professional Rodeo, I was amazed at the extent of the knowledge of the announcer. He knew the riders, had watched many of them grow up, and knew their parents and their backgrounds. It was not just a matter of having facts and figures at his fingertips for his job, it was a reflection of the fellowship of a community brought together by common interest.
Another example comes to mind when I think of the fly-in at Carlyle. Pilots tend to enjoy getting together to swap "hanger talk." It's perhaps the ultimate example of the old saying "birds of a feather flock together." And while they may have their own language, with terms like "PIREPS" and "NOTAMS" and "VFR," they are always more than happy to let outsiders into their midst, explaining and sharing the joy of aviation.
All this fellowship stuff tells me something very profound. When it really comes down to it, we are very social creatures, and we need each other. And this extends far beyond the evidence we see in clubs with common interest. On a humanitarian level It does not matter if we are black, white, First Nations or immigrant, we are part of the community of humanity, and it is time we got that reality firmly into our skulls. Years ago, a popular song referred to the ebony and ivory keys on a piano, and it asked if they live together in harmony, why can't we?
Fellowship on a human scale gets things done when it sees a need. It does not ask "are these people like me?" it asks "How can I help, because as fellow human beings, we are brothers." That is the world I wish we could see at last, that is the level of global community that I long for. Don't you?
There have been local examples of late. A young man with some disabilities wanted to fly to another part of the country to follow a dream, and Westjet agreed to provide a free ticket for the chaperone that had to go with him. And in another situation, a former scout master responded to the needs of a new kid's club at White Bear, giving significant amounts of materials to the club, thrilling the organizers with their generosity. The disabled and First Nations, two groups that are so often wrongly-labelled, and in these two examples people from outside those communities reached out in the hand of fellowship - that's what I'm talking about.
Every one of us will have need of the help of other people sometime, if not now then in the future. If we live our life in a way that treats other people with respect and kindness, if we let our heart relate to the needs of others, offering a helping hand or a friendly smile, or a word of encouragement, then in this lawful universe, the kindness will come back to us some day. May we live in that way, in the unity of the brotherhood of humanity, and in the fellowship of a global community.
