Showing Up

Last Friday, a community group in Westborough (one town over from us) organized a friendship circle for their Jewish neighbors: They invited everyone to come and stand outside the doors of Congregation B'nai Shalom and greet worshipers as they were coming in for Shabbat services.

Originally I had not been planning to attend since we had a church event that evening. But something compelled me to go. Was it the pouring rain that made me think nobody else would show up? Was it my desire to do something, anything, after the horrible news of the shooting of 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life Synagogue outside Pittsburgh two weeks before? Was it the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night when Jewish stores, synagogues, cemeteries and homes were burned to the ground in Nazi Germany?

In any case, I went. First I couldn't find parking at the school next to B'nai Shalom where we were meeting. Then I saw a long line of people walking. Hundreds of them. The rain didn't stop them from showing up!

We were invited inside and formed two lines in the hallway. Worshipers walked past us to their worship space as hand-written notes were handed to them. Some of them had tears in their eyes, others were seriously crying. They were all overwhelmed and deeply moved by the number of people who showed up. So was I.  

This is how much "showing up" means. And if I hadn't shown up, I would have missed out on a powerful experience of solidarity and hope. 

When did it ever matter to you that someone showed up? At the hospital bed? At a grave site? For your wedding or birthday party? For your kid's concert or game? Didn't it mean the world to you to see them take time out of their busy lives and be with you? 

And my next question is: Where can you show up and be present for someone else in their joy, or in their sorrow? Maybe you've done so recently and experienced how gratifying it is. Maybe you want to but something always got in the way.

In times like these, we need each other to show up. To be there. To show solidarity and support. It means the world, and quite possibly, it could save the world.