Belonging Begins With Us — Celebrating What Unites Us As A Community

Belonging Begins With Us — Celebrating What Unites Us As A Community

by Claudia Morlan, Sr. Director of Communications, YMCA of Metro Denver

“As an international student, winter holidays were often challenging. I was far away from friends and family. I often felt homesick and isolated. A friend from college invited me to spend my first Thanksgiving with her family. They opened up their home to me like I was family, even though my own was far away in Jordan. It’s now my responsibility to treat newcomers with the same hospitality. My hope is that people will experience the same kindness that made me feel like I belonged.”

Fairouz A. describes this story as part of Belonging Begins with Us, a partnership with organizations across the U.S. to create a more welcoming nation where everyone belongs.

Belonging Begins with Us is also the theme of Welcoming Week at YMCAs this year, including the YMCA of Metro Denver. During Welcoming Week, September 10-19, 2021, we recognize that there are many more things that unite us as neighbors and citizens than divide us. We can all play a role in making sure everyone feels safe and welcome in our community.

What can you do to foster a more welcoming place? Here are five easy steps:

  1. Read a book written by or about an immigrant’s story.
  2. Learn to say “hello” in a different language and try it out with a friend.
  3. Share a story on social media about your family’s heritage or immigrant story and invite others to share.
  4. Support an immigrant-owned business.
  5. Try a recipe from a cookbook like the “The Taste of Belonging” by Immigrant Pathways Colorado.

Whatever you choose to do, remember finding points of connection and sharing experiences help create strong, supportive communities. Learn more about Welcoming Week at denverymca.org/new-american-welcome-center.

Joseph Campbell, Donald Trump, And The Hero With A Thousand Faces

Joseph Campbell, Donald Trump, And The Hero With A Thousand Faces

The best example I can ever give anybody about Joseph Campbell and his mythology of the hero who goes through various adventures, renews himself, and reappears in the end as the hero or the savior is Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. He fulfills the entire narrative of Campbell’s so-called The Hero’s Journey.

In his book, Joseph Campbell’s Hero With A Thousand Faces, he believes there is a principle in mythology whether it’s the life of Jesus, Ulysses, Moses, Muhammad, or King Arthur. We all read the mythology, Campbell called it the mono myth.

What I witness now is the emergence of the new church, the true believers, the people who in the French Revolution always addressed each other as “citizen,” or the Bolsheviks who addressed each other as “comrade.” Now we call one another “patriot.”

Donald Trump has assumed the role of savior and martyr. People like Sidney Powell, the kraken, the unsavory version of Mayor Giuliani, the court jester Lynn Wood, the acting pope Mike Lindell, and the runaway bride Jenna Ellis. They’re the cheerleaders in the mythology part of a religious trust. Mike Lindell has become a spokesperson for the rapture. Those of you who follow that form of Christianity know the day Jesus returns true believers will automatically disappear, cars will be empty, airplanes will fall out of the sky, and radio talk show hosts will disappear.

Now we all remember the rapturist in the 19th century, Reverend Miller in Georgia, who took all of his followers wrapped in sheets up the mountain for the rapture and it didn’t happen so they became Seventh-day Adventists.

Lindell first said the rapture would be August 13, but has now declared the rapture has moved to before New Year’s Eve of 2021. Lindell would make Joseph Campbell proud. The important part of this is the falling of the wayside of all the original members of the church. Giuliani, Powell, and all the rest who have been discredited. Lindell has kept the drive alive. New saints and martyrs appear daily but ultimately Campbell is right. The journey must end. I had the opportunity to meet Campbell prior to his death. His structured stories on what he called the mono myth have been repeated in Christian churches, Jewish temples, Islamic mosques, Samurai legends, Arthurian legends, and people we need to create to keep the drive alive. Campbell knew he stood alone. Let’s play ball.

— Peter Boyles

Special Chamber Event Featuring Two New Members

Bourbon & Beer Afternoon Tasting Experience Comes To Glendale

The Greater Glendale Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Made Here Beer and Bardstown Bourbon Company, have a special event planned for Wednesday, August 25, 2021. The Bourbon & Beer Afternoon Tasting Experience will be held at the Try Club at Infinity Park from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. The cost is just $20 per attendee.

Representatives from Made Here Beer and Bardstown Bourbon Company will be on hand to talk about each of their products and pour samples for each attendee. Made Here has three beers on the market: Lager, American Ale, and IPA. Bardstown will have three different types of bourbons.

You must be 21 years of age to attend.  Visit www.bourbonbeerafternoontastingexperi ence.eventbrite.com to purchase tickets. Try Club can be accessed by entering the Glendale Sports Center at 4500 East Kentucky Avenue.