Actively making a place better

I’d like to share these images of what Community means to me. These images were taken recently outside the Old Dutch Church in Kingston, New York.  The Reformed Protestant congregation hung 49 rainbow flags along the railing of the church in tribute to the 49 victims of the Orlando shooting.  The impact of the flags was three-fold for me:

1. That while walking the perimeter of the church and passing each flag, I could sense the immensity of loss of life;
2. That there was a pervasive sense of solidarity of members of one community supporting another;
3. And that the LGBT community, of which I belong, was not made invisible or diminished or feared, but rather was honored as a community that contributes light, beauty, and diversity to the world.

Communities work together to actively make the place they live better for everyone by sharing wisdom, resources, care and the best of their humanity.