Mutual help

The spirit of Christmas and the wonders of solidarity in our settlement. 

The local pizzeria is forced to close due to its excessive rent and no hope of ever purchasing the building it is located in. So the restaurant’s chef, his wife and two kids working together, and three more who are waiting at home, will meet the new year with no business and no work.

What’s more, the lease has been twisted by the clever owner of the building so that the family can neither buy the building nor work in any food establishment within a 20 km radius of our settlement, which means they are likely to be forced out of our magical, friendly community.

But sometimes sad stories have nice moments. Yesterday, nearly forty loyal customers, encouraged by one person, ordered a huge table, feasted, and then left for generous tea and said good-bye to the restaurant’s owners after a long, sad hug.

And yet yesterday we all said that our settlement is a real refuge for us from the anxiety of the world. There are a magical atmosphere and a lot of humanity, which is hardly found in the unfriendly jungle of the big cities.

And indeed the time is like stopped here, and life in it, though not easy, with drama, but full of mutual help and joy for the accomplishments of others.

© Fortune, 2019