Source: The Owasso Reporter

As I thought about the last year and the events of the world, cooperation is definitely not the word I would use to describe what has gone on, especially if you watched the news for more than five minutes!

Fortunately, when I think of our local community, cooperation is seen everywhere.  The Character Council, for instance, is a group made up of local city, school, and church leaders, as well as businessmen and women, all volunteering their time, working and cooperating towards a common goal: to help make Owasso stand out by the traits we display and the traits we teach our kids.

Similarly, the Owasso Chamber board, a group of almost 20 people of all different backgrounds and experiences, all volunteer their time and cooperate together to help continue making Owasso one of the best places in the state to live and bring your businesses.

There are many more examples all over town: in our schools, in our churches, in our city government, and in our sports organizations – all cooperating within each of their groups for a certain purpose, a purpose that in turn usually affects many, many people outside of their respective groups.

But Cooperation doesn’t come without a cost. It’s a giving of oneself; it’s an investment of time and energy into someone or something for a future return.  It’s the willingness to have an open mind and to listen and learn from other people’s experiences and backgrounds to make ourselves better people.

While researching cooperation, I found the following quote from “Perspectives on Cooperation in Modern Society: Helping the Self, the Community, and Society”.  Authors Mark Van Vugt, Anders Biel, Mark Snyder, and Tom Tyler talk about major events that have changed the country and the world, like the Great Depression, the oil crisis in the 70’s, labor disputes in the 80’s, HIV in the 80’s and 90’s, and the numerous wars over the last century.   Without a doubt, COVID-19 will be on that list one day.  What they say sums up our community and our country well:

What seems so remarkable, however, is the ability of modern society to overcome these issues through the continuous efforts of men and women at every level of society. If anything, the story of modern society is about large numbers of citizens cooperating with each other, trying to do something good for the welfare of their community and the broader society of which they are part. (p. 2)

Originally published in the Owasso Reporter April 2021