Paper Clips

We are so busy with our lives and so inundated with bad news these days that most moments simply pass right by without a thought or a notice.  This fact makes the moments that are so unexpected and so powerful  they stick that much more precious. And you just never know what shape they will take.

A few months ago my dad introduced me to a documentary called "Paper Clips". Since that introduction, I've watched the film twice and been in several conversations about it. The story is of  a small Tennessee coal mining town that underwent a sort of awakening about 10 years ago and has been forever changed. Whitwell, Tennessee is a town of about 1600 hundred people. They are mostly white, mostly protestant, and until this project, most likely set in their ways without much thought of the diversity of the world around them. Following a teacher's conference, the assistant principal of the middle school came back with an idea that the students in the 8th grade should have an opportunity to study the Holocaust, believing that it would be the ideal way to introduce them to a different culture and faith, one that none of them had ever been exposed to. When the students began learning about the 6 million Jews that were killed in the concentration camps during WWII, one student wondered aloud about what 6 million looked like - what did such a large number actually look like. The principal encouraged the kids to find something they could collect 6 million of so they could have an idea of the magnitude of such a number. As you've probably guessed, the item was paper clips. Now, I'm not going to tell you what happens from here (get the film - watch it - and then watch it again) except to say that the project took on a life of it's own, and 10 years later a permanent memorial to the project still stands at the new Whitwell Middle School and has forever changed the attitudes and opened the eyes of this little backroads, coal mining, Tennessee town.

My mom and dad recently had an opportunity to visit the memorial during a trip to Sewanee, which is not far up the road from Whitwell. They did not get up to it as it's on the grounds of the new school, which was closed for Spring Break., but dad said that even the sight of it from a distance was moving. But perhaps more moving was his description of the woman from Whitwell who met him on the street near the old middle school, the original location of the memorial. I bet you have a picture of her in your mind already - and you'd be right - driving an old pickup that was splattered with the dirt of honest country roads,  - but bright eyes and a smile that said 'welcome' - a startling gesture in a world when where most strangers are met with caution. She updated my parents on the new school and the new location for the memorial and all the teachers and community leaders that spearheaded the original project. Dad shared with her that he's involved with a Jewish - Christian dialogue group in Mobile. She responded, with tears in her eyes, "that must be so wonderful." That's how deeply this project has changed this town - and it all started with a question - and an opportunity.

I wonder what would happen if everytime we saw a need or an opportunity to make things better - we took it head on like the community of Whitwell, Tennessee did with this project.  Can you imagine? What if all of the abandoned buildings became community centers with job skills training and after school programs. All the vacant lots became basketball courts for pickup games and a volunteer gave his or her time to kids with nothing to do between the hours of 3-6, which is when most kids get into trouble.  What if all the land and subdivision developers set aside two lots in each neighborhood and instead of building houses, they built a playground and installed picnic tables, so that people came out of their houses and got to know their neighbors - and the idea of neighbors helping raise the children came back into vogue - and crime went down because we were are looking out for each other. What if, instead of walking over the empty can on the street, we picked it up and found a trash can, or better yet, a recycling bin. What if, instead of giving into to hate and cynism and apathy, we educated ourselves on our differences, and discovered just how many similarities actually exist between different cultures, different races, different faiths. What if, no matter who told you not to speak the truth, or told you to be quiet unless given permission to talk, that you just kept getting louder until you made a difference? What if everytime a spark was created, we grabbed the billow to make it burn hotter instead of putting it out? That's how moments happen. It's how change is created. It's how a difference is made in the way we live our lives for the better. We never know where these opportunities are going to go if we don't give them a chance to take root and grow. Some will falter - and others will forever change a community, or a nation, or a world.

For more information on Whitwell, Tennessee and the Paper Clips Project go to http://www.whitwellmiddleschool.org/ and look for the Holocaust project link. The memorial is available for viewing year round. If school isn't open, just stop by the police station. They'll let you in.