I went to a virtual meeting yesterday. Like all of us, I’ve been to an innumerable amount of virtual meetings over the last two years. This particular meeting had two parts to it, and some participants were scheduled to arrive half way through.
“Okay, I’m going to let in the others,” the host said.
Suddenly, four additional people popped onto the screen, and I don’t know what it was about that extremely small, mundane, has-been-done-so-many-times-in-this-pandemic moment, but when those four additional smiling faces arrived, I felt something deep and meaningful.
Last week, I wrote a piece about what it feels like to know you’re creating together. There is also a particular kind of bond we can feel alongside the people with whom we’ve created. I felt that yesterday.
I recently stepped down from my role as Director of the Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County. This was a hard decision for me to make, but with additional responsibilities coming my way, I knew I could not continue to stay in this position. Yesterday, Board members from the Interfaith Round Table met with students at the University of Michigan. They’re taking a class entitled, “Interfaith Organizing and Social Justice.” We talked about what we’ve experienced and what we’ve been able to cultivate together through our relationships, shared dialogue, and interfaith events.
There is truly a special kind of bond between people who have created together. I felt that deeply when they arrived on Zoom. It was such mundane moment, but there was love on the screen.
–Renee Roederer
Smuggling Grace 