Putting Greater Liberty on the Map

2015 by Ed Chasteen

I hear and read news of bad things that happen far away in other countries and on other continents. In ways I can never really understand, these bad things play themselves out in the place where I live. If that is true, and I know that it is, then this is also true: Good things that happen here where I live play themselves out in far away countries and on other continents.

“If it is to be, it is up to me.” These ten two letter words for years now have gotten me on my bicycle to ride out from my town 125 miles in all directions. My town is called Liberty, and I have dubbed all places within 125 miles as Greater Liberty. About four million people live within my day’s bike ride. This is but a tiny fraction of all the world’s people and a tiny piece of the world’s real estate. But this is my place. These are my people. Red and Yellow, Black, Brown and White; Christian, Buddhist and Jew; Hindu, Baha’i and Muslim too; All our precious in our sight. Not just my sight. Our sight.

We are HateBusters. We respond to any act of hate in Greater Liberty. We teach people how to like people who are not like them. We never say no when asked to help. We never ask for money from those who need our help.

World events now make Muslims who live in Greater Liberty uneasy, unsure of their neighbors. So we HateBusters will visit at least once a week for the next several months with Muslim organizations and individuals in Greater Liberty. We do not go to change them or to join them. Our sole (soul) agenda is to be a good neighbor. Muslims need to know that we value their presence. Together we are stronger. Greater Liberty is our neighborhood.

Other countries and other continents will notice. Our behavior here will be played out there. Maybe not directly. And maybe not soon. The road may be long. But the journey will have started. What happens here in Greater Liberty will likely never be credited. We ourselves may not even recognize the value of what we have done. It’s the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.