The Gappers, Our Coronavirus Response

Happy May, friends! This week on the podcast, Adam, Matt, and Kristopher sit down on their virtual front porches in order to talk about the Neighboring Movement's coronavirus response: an experimental community called "the gappers". 

Throughout this coronavirus pandemic, we have noticed the temptation to say things like, “I just wish we could go back”, or “I just wish things would be back to normal.” These are tempting thoughts, right? Well, we have discovered something about ourselves: We don’t want to go back. We don’t want to just go back to pre-coronavirus normal; we can do so much better than that!

Before the pandemic started, we, as an organization, had been feeling an invitation to expand the way that we think about our work. Really, we had been feeling an invitation to expand the way that we think about ourselves. Then, coronavirus arrived, and those invitations escalated tenfold. But, here’s the thing: we believe that all of humanity has been given the opportunity to re-think some important things, to re-think “normal”. Because if normal means continuing to bow to ideas that pit human against human, and destroy our planetary home in the process, then we don’t want things to be normal any longer. We believe a new normal is coming and that the opportunity is upon us. Let’s be thankful for what’s come before and continue moving towards what’s ahead; let’s stand in the gap between what has been and what is coming! And that’s where the gappers come in…

We don't want to spoil what this experimental community is all about, so you'll have to tune in to learn more! We hope you enjoy this episode, and we hope you will take part in this gapping work! After listening, if you would like to learn more about all of this, or sign up to be a part of the gapper calls, please visit www.neighboringmovement.org/gappers. Talk soon!