memories shared

I remember a story about a village somewhere in Africa. In this village, whenever one of its members went "off track", so to speak, and began to hurt themselves or others, the village would do the craziest thing. They would surround this certain someone and take turns. Each individual member of this village would take a turn sharing a memory about this lost person. If it took all day, then it took all day; everyone had the opportunity to speak up about why this person was so loved, so vital to their village. What if we, in this society, took on such a practice, beginning with our families? How different, how much better would we be as a whole? Instead of tearing each other down for our mistakes, what if we turned our focus to that which is good and precious in each of us? What if? I think we're so busy being angry at each other for our transgressions, we have forgotten that life goes on and we are all dynamic, ever-changing and capable of being better. We are missing out on what is so good inside each and everyone of us.