Community Creates Change By Hé Ré, Los Angeles, CA
I haven’t laughed as much as I have on my surfboard, when my friends & I were trying to figure out how to get up for longer than just enough time to fall. I haven’t talked to strangers more than I have sitting in the line up between swells. I haven’t gotten as close to my friends as I have when we take road trips & camping weekends to a new beach.
Surfing has given my friends & I community. It doesn’t matter who I am outside of the water, what music I listen to, what my job is, where I come from or where I am going. When I’m out in the line up on my board, I am surfer, just like everyone else out there. We may not have anything else in common but this one hobby, but we at least have that.
Surfing can definitely change the world. Surfing is a subculture that is full of community. And what is the world most in need of than anything? Community! You see it in the longings of those on MySpace or Facebook & other social networking communities: people wanting a way to connect with other people.
So can surfing change the world? Yes. Why? Because it provides community, and community provides real relationships, and real relationships are what can foster change in people. The change can be as big as my friend Saralyn who came to know Jesus through learning how to surf with Christian Surfers to something as simple as someone helping pick up garbage on the beach with the Surfrider Foundation.
