Opinion: Ignoring celebrities and giving 'reality of personal relationships' a chance could help heal communities

Prior to tonight's State of the Union address, a top-down sort of thing, Andy Stanton-Henry of Mt. Gilead, Ohio, argues in The Daily Yonder: "We are going to have to flip the conventional wisdom of top-down change and give bottom-up another try."

Stanton-Henry, a community navigator for a United Way, begins by looking at how we pick our leaders: "Don’t meet your heroes, we are told. It’s not the worst advice, since they so often let us down. Interreacting with anyone is a humanizing act, and meeting our heroes reveals that they are human just like us. And that’s not always a pleasant experience. But most of the time, we don’t have to meet our heroes to be disappointed by them. We only have to watch what they do and listen to what they say. . . . They should be held accountable and we deserve leaders with integrity and courage. But, if we are honest, it’s partly our fault. We have placed too much hope in celebrities."

Rural Americans can also fall for celebrity glitz, Stanton-Henry warns: "Rural folks like to think we are not susceptible to celebrity, but recent national elections have reminded us that this is not always the case. We value self-reliance and local community but sometimes we turn to 'strong man' leaders who promise to save us. . . . The truth is, however, no politician can 'make America great again.'"

What can leaders do, and what can average Americans do? "They can lead by example, work to pass helpful legislation, and inspire the nation by word and deed," Stanton-Henry writes. "But none of those, by themselves, are enough to heal our communities or create pathways out of poverty. The work of repair and rebuilding that our historical moment requires includes all of us. We can’t do it by ourselves but neither can it be done without us."

Stanton-Henry theorizes: "Maybe part of the problem is our fixation on charismatic leaders coming to save us. If we are going to heal and if our communities have a chance at thriving, we are going to have to rethink some things. To do this, we are going to have to disinvest our hope in powerful, public heroes and reinvest it in hidden ones. . . . I’ve come to believe that most real heroes are hidden. Most saints are unseen. You probably know some. You may even be one of them. Whether our communities fail or thrive has a lot to do with sustaining and celebrating the work of hidden heroes and unseen saint."

Thomas Merton (Christian Book photo)

He offers a rural example: "Kentucky writer and monk Thomas Merton wrote a letter to peace activists telling them to 'not depend on the hope of results.' They were bound to be let down by conventional definitions of 'success' and 'effectiveness.' Instead, he suggested they find fulfillment in the rightness of the work itself. When they let go of their hope in results, they would 'gradually struggle less and less for an idea and more and more for specific people. In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything.'"

He reminds us again that rural Americans know how to apply Merton's teachings. "At our best, rural and small-town folks model this principle. We don’t get caught up in the topics and trends that make national news. We don’t obsess over traditional metrics of success. Instead, we focus on doing our work well, loving our families and neighbors well, and leaving a legacy for our kids or community. Country life is all about 'the reality of personal relationship.' But I fear that many of us have forgotten or neglected this. Some of us have even outright rejected this. It’s time to remember and reclaim it."