The Closet and the Community

 

Every year around this time, when the nights crackle with fireworks and celebration, our dog Otis disappears. Not in the literal sense—he’s always in the same place. We’ll find him burrowed behind storage boxes and folded clothes in the deepest corner of my wife’s closet, trembling. It doesn’t matter if it’s the big booms of the 4th of July or just a few rogue firecrackers—he’s gone, emotionally and physically, until the skies quiet down again.

He won’t eat. He won’t play. He certainly won’t come out, no matter how gently we coax or how many treats we offer. His instincts say hide, and so he hides. It’s heartbreaking to see him so afraid, so convinced that withdrawal is the only safe option.

And I wonder—how different are we, really?

We might not wedge ourselves into closets when the world gets loud, but we retreat just the same. We avoid the messy, risky business of being part of something bigger than ourselves. We pull away from conversations that might challenge us. We shrink from service because we’re unsure if it will matter. We ghost community meetings, avoid difficult phone calls, scroll past the needs of others. We stay hidden behind our own emotional boxes and folded distractions.

And just like Otis, we tell ourselves it’s safer that way.

But here’s the truth: hiding doesn’t stop the fireworks. Not for Otis. Not for us. When we stay tucked away from the world, we don’t avoid its problems—we just stop being part of the solution. Our communities grow lonelier. Our neighbors struggle. Injustice, apathy, and isolation become the rhythms we ignore while we wait for things to “quiet down.”

What Otis doesn’t understand—and what we sometimes forget—is that courage doesn’t mean the fireworks stop. It means learning to live through the noise.

We can’t coax Otis out of the closet, but maybe we can coax ourselves out of hiding. Maybe this year, instead of flinching from the chaos, we step into it—just a little. Make the call. Attend the gathering. Help the neighbor. Start the hard conversation.

Because the world needs us out here, not hidden in closets, waiting for peace.

Written by David L. Burton

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