Community
The news about threats the earthquake survivors in Pakistan face from the coming cold winter points out a need in our world to understand the importance of real community.
PAKISTANI QUAKE SURVIVORS BRACE FOR WINTER. "But the people I deal with in the field from Pakistan and the humanitarian community are all well aware that we have a real battle ahead of us.''
In his book LET YOUR LIFE SPEAK, Parker Palmer touches on the subject when he writes, “In the human world, abundance does not happen automatically. It is created when we have the sense to choose community, to come together and share our common store.”, and “Authentic abundance does not lie in secured stockpiles of food or cash or influence or affection but in belonging to a community where we can give those goods to others who need them – and receive them from others when we are in need.”
Too often it seems like in our world today real community gets lost when we strive to maximize the size of our communities, rather then the quality of our community. When our communities become too big, we loose touch with the other members. The story’s below highlight what can happen when the focus becomes one of size rather then quality.
SPIRIT OF NEW ENGLAND IMPERILED BY SPRAWL. “Subdivisions get randomly plopped down, while the rich carve out starter-castles on the sides of hills surrounded by private forests. Key transportation arteries become so congested that the economy of whole subregions is in jeopardy. Water supplies are threatened. People walk less, imperiling health. The poor, minorities, senior citizens are increasingly isolated. Supplies of affordable housing dry up. Convenient downtown stores close their doors. Struggling family farms finally give way to developer dollars.”
HOUSTON BRACES FOR BLOW TO IMAGE AS ENRON TRIAL LOOMS “Enron, once the world's largest energy trader, failed amid disclosures of secret partnerships and hidden debt. Its December 2001 bankruptcy was then the largest in U.S. history.”
In his classic book SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL ,economist E.F. Schumacher had much to say about this flawed reasoning and how it came about. “[I]n the beginning was the family; then families got together and formed tribes; then tribes formed a nation; then a number of nations formed a ‘Union’ or ‘United States’ of this or that; finally, we could look forward to a single World Government”. Schumacher pointed out, “when it comes to action, we obviously need small units, because action is a highly personal affair, and one cannot be in touch with more than a very limited number of persons at any one time. But when it comes to the world of ideas, to principles or to ethics, to the indivisibility of peace and also ecology, we need to recognize the unity of mankind and base or actions upon this recognition.”
When a community focuses on the individuals that make it up and they pool their resources to help each other, great things can happen as shown in the following examples.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT POURS IN FOR WOMAN IN NEED.
“An outpouring of community support has brought Vera Hunt a giant step closer to getting her New Years wish, a kidney and a new life.”
COMMUNITY TO FIX TEEN'S HOME.
“Fenton Township plans to use $55,000 in federal funds to make life easier for disabled 17-year-old.”
The irony of being in community is that to really be in it, we also need to spend some time alone. Thomas Merton writes about this in his book NEW SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION where he says, “To live in communion, in genuine dialogue with others is absolutely necessary if man is to remain human. But to live in the midst of others, sharing nothing with them but the common noise and the general distraction, isolates a man in the worst way, separates him from reality in a way that is almost painless.” He goes on to write that, “There is no true solitude except interior solitude. And interior solitude is not possible for anyone who does not accept his right place in relation to other men. There is no true peace possible for the man who still imagines that some accident of talent or grace or virtue segregates him from other men and places him above them.”
As the dictionary reminds us, community is “a unified body of individuals.” So how do we find that unity?
PAKISTANI QUAKE SURVIVORS BRACE FOR WINTER. "But the people I deal with in the field from Pakistan and the humanitarian community are all well aware that we have a real battle ahead of us.''
In his book LET YOUR LIFE SPEAK, Parker Palmer touches on the subject when he writes, “In the human world, abundance does not happen automatically. It is created when we have the sense to choose community, to come together and share our common store.”, and “Authentic abundance does not lie in secured stockpiles of food or cash or influence or affection but in belonging to a community where we can give those goods to others who need them – and receive them from others when we are in need.”
Too often it seems like in our world today real community gets lost when we strive to maximize the size of our communities, rather then the quality of our community. When our communities become too big, we loose touch with the other members. The story’s below highlight what can happen when the focus becomes one of size rather then quality.
SPIRIT OF NEW ENGLAND IMPERILED BY SPRAWL. “Subdivisions get randomly plopped down, while the rich carve out starter-castles on the sides of hills surrounded by private forests. Key transportation arteries become so congested that the economy of whole subregions is in jeopardy. Water supplies are threatened. People walk less, imperiling health. The poor, minorities, senior citizens are increasingly isolated. Supplies of affordable housing dry up. Convenient downtown stores close their doors. Struggling family farms finally give way to developer dollars.”
HOUSTON BRACES FOR BLOW TO IMAGE AS ENRON TRIAL LOOMS “Enron, once the world's largest energy trader, failed amid disclosures of secret partnerships and hidden debt. Its December 2001 bankruptcy was then the largest in U.S. history.”
In his classic book SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL ,economist E.F. Schumacher had much to say about this flawed reasoning and how it came about. “[I]n the beginning was the family; then families got together and formed tribes; then tribes formed a nation; then a number of nations formed a ‘Union’ or ‘United States’ of this or that; finally, we could look forward to a single World Government”. Schumacher pointed out, “when it comes to action, we obviously need small units, because action is a highly personal affair, and one cannot be in touch with more than a very limited number of persons at any one time. But when it comes to the world of ideas, to principles or to ethics, to the indivisibility of peace and also ecology, we need to recognize the unity of mankind and base or actions upon this recognition.”
When a community focuses on the individuals that make it up and they pool their resources to help each other, great things can happen as shown in the following examples.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT POURS IN FOR WOMAN IN NEED.
“An outpouring of community support has brought Vera Hunt a giant step closer to getting her New Years wish, a kidney and a new life.”
COMMUNITY TO FIX TEEN'S HOME.
“Fenton Township plans to use $55,000 in federal funds to make life easier for disabled 17-year-old.”
The irony of being in community is that to really be in it, we also need to spend some time alone. Thomas Merton writes about this in his book NEW SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION where he says, “To live in communion, in genuine dialogue with others is absolutely necessary if man is to remain human. But to live in the midst of others, sharing nothing with them but the common noise and the general distraction, isolates a man in the worst way, separates him from reality in a way that is almost painless.” He goes on to write that, “There is no true solitude except interior solitude. And interior solitude is not possible for anyone who does not accept his right place in relation to other men. There is no true peace possible for the man who still imagines that some accident of talent or grace or virtue segregates him from other men and places him above them.”
As the dictionary reminds us, community is “a unified body of individuals.” So how do we find that unity?
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