Each man’s death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.

Therefore, send not to know

For whom the bell tolls,

It tolls for thee.

— John Donne
 

The Altamont Enterprise is a community newspaper.

This phrase, “community newspaper,” is often used disparagingly, when small papers are compared to large media organizations.

But we believe community is essential to humankind.

We thought about this on Sept. 11 this year as we covered the ceremony Altamont has hosted each year since the terrorists’ attacks in 2001.

This year, the weather on Sept. 11 was reminiscent of that 23 years ago — a crisp September day with a bright blue sky, warmed by the sun.

We were comforted by the bevy of villagers, some carrying small American flags, that had gathered at the firehouse for the ceremony.

First responders — many of the volunteer firefighters in brass-buttoned uniforms — stood in a line beneath a giant flag, the stars and stripes suspended from the Guilderland Center ladder truck overhead.

At precisely 8:46 a.m., the time the first hijacked plane hit one of the Twin Towers, the Altamont firehouse siren sounded and white-gloved hands were raised in a crisp salute.

Robert White, president of Altamont’s volunteer fire company, stood at the center of the line next to a chair with firefighter’s gear, commemorating those who had died 23 years ago.

Afterward, Eric Reimer, pastor of St. John’s Church, led the group in prayer. “Help us to grieve, to remember, and to give thanks to all of those we lost,” he said.

Pastor Reimer read from Genesis the story of Noah’s Ark and said it represented God making a covenant with us. He spoke of a “covenant of care,” citing a call he himself had made to the Altamont Fire Department to have his cellar pumped out.

The pastor noted that, for his call, only “stuff” was endangered, yet, for many calls, much more is at stake — even a person’s life.

He concluded with a prayer, saying, “Let us continue to live in community with one another.”

Community.

The word comes from the Latin, communis, meaning “shared by all” — the prefix con means “together” and the word munis means “performing services.”

Community comes in all sizes. The Enterprise serves a small community based in a specific locality — Albany County.

Week in and week out, we can see on our pages the way community — the covenant of care — is reinforced.

A tiny example recently played out on our classified ads page. We run ads about lost or found pets for free.

An elderly woman had lost her beloved cat. Another villager read the ad she placed, recognized the cat, and returned it to its owner. The woman told us how much that meant to her; the cat is a needed companion since so many of her friends have died.

Another example — one of many springing from our news coverage — involved a story we wrote about a woman who felt she was wrongly charged for a car accident and believed she had exhausted all avenues for recourse.

An Enterprise reader, however, pointed her to a department in the attorney general’s office that might help. She wrote us a letter about this, to inform others, and then yet another reader last week sent in a letter of congratulation and solidarity.

Of course “community” in the era of the internet can extend to specific groups ranging across the world.

Community can also encompass an entire nation when there is a sense of common ground. We witnessed that this past Sept. 11 when the two candidates for president had debated fiercely on the evening of Sept. 10 but the next day, both attending a 9/11 ceremony, shook hands.

Community could embrace the world.

Ironically, we are right now in the midst of the Nelson Mandela Decade of Peace.

At a United Nations peace summit held in September 2018, the one-hundred heads of state and government, ministers, member states, and representatives of civil society “committed to redoubling efforts to build a just, peaceful, prosperous, inclusive and fair world, as they paid tribute to the late South African president’s celebrated qualities and service to humanity,” said a U.N. account written at the time of the declaration.

The declaration calls for upholding the sovereign equality of all states and respecting their territorial integrity and political independence, as well as refraining from the threat or use of force.

 “It is clear that lasting peace is not realized just by the absence of armed conflict, but is achieved through a continuing positive, dynamic, inclusive and participatory process of dialogue,” the representatives determined.

Throughout the document, they refer to the “international community.”

Describing Mandella as a global citizen whose legacy must continue to guide the international community, the United Nations’ leader, Secretary-General António Guterres, highlighted the organization’s creation of Nelson Mandela International Day to promote community service.

Peacemaking, the leaders from around the world said, requires not only a political response but also one by the private sector, civil society groups, and citizens at the grassroots level.  

That gives those of us here in Albany County who are watching from afar — with horror and sadness and a sense of helplessness — the wars being fought around the world something we can do at home.

A page on how to celebrate Nelson Mandela Day, which takes place each year on his birthday, July 18, has recommendations that could be carried out all year long.

This includes:

— Making new friends, crossing cultural bridges to enrich your life while wiping away fear by understanding different backgrounds;

— Sharing your skills, swapping with others in your community to fortify bonds and empower one another;

— Exploring new places to open your eyes to the beauty around and within;  and

— Volunteering to help others in your community and create waves of change.

That returns us to the role of a community newspaper.

We urge you to share not just your complaints and your struggles on our letters pages but your good works and solutions as well.

Journalism is the only profession mentioned in the United States Constitution. “The press” is essential to democracy.

We provide a public service as a community institution that makes our community better.

It should not take a terrorists’ attack to bring us together as a community. Commit today to being part of a covenant of care.