We want to trust that our neighbors will show up for us, that we will show up for them
An OPINION by The Rev. Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD, Alfred
Community does not happen by accident. It is something we practice, something we nurture together, something we return to when the world feels frayed.
Here in Allegany County, in a place shaped by the restless energy of the Burned-Over District, we have always known something about change. This land has been alive with movements—revivalists, abolitionists, suffragists, seekers—people who believed the world could be different and were willing to shape it with their hands, their words, their courage. That history lives in the soil, in the river, in the stories passed down through generations. And yet, like any place with deep roots, we must continue tending to what grows here now.
In times of uncertainty, many of us long for something solid—something that reassures us we are not alone. We want to trust that our neighbors will show up for us, that we will show up for them. But trust is not a given. It is built, woven thread by thread through shared meals, unexpected kindness, the courage to listen, and the patience to repair what has been broken.
If we are honest, we live in a culture that does not always teach us how to belong to one another. It teaches competition over collaboration, independence over interdependence, efficiency over care. We are told that we can be self-made, that we are defined by our individual success. But the truth is, we need one another. The deepest kind of strength is not in standing apart but in standing together.
Belonging is a practice. It is something we must choose. It means making space for the quiet voices, for the newcomer, for the one who carries a different story than our own. It means recognizing the ways we have been shaped by a culture of dominance—where some voices are amplified and others are dismissed—and choosing a different way.
What if we practiced something else? What if we practiced deep listening? What if we practiced generosity—not just in giving, but in how we assume the best of one another? What if we practiced patience when conversations get hard, and courage when repair is needed?
The work of belonging is slow work. It is not about fixing things overnight but tending to the roots, nurturing something that can grow. It is about seeing our neighbors not as strangers, not as obstacles, but as people we are bound to.
We live in a place with a long memory. A place where people have imagined new ways of being before and can do so again. Let’s practice together. Let’s nurture a community where all of us—every one of us—can belong.__
The Rev. Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD
Pastor | Professor | Politicized Theologian & Public Ethicist Pastor, Union University Church, Alfred, NY
Visiting Professor, Duke Divinity School, Durham, NC
Founder, Our Collective Becoming, Turtle Island
