An Organizing Idea
Looking back over my posts so far, I've noticed a word that keeps coming up: the word is "community". Community is a very powerful idea, one that evokes something very deep and important; it speaks to one of those basic human drives (some have said the most basic), the urge to be connected.
But community is about more than connection; it also is about seperateness. The ideal of community presupposes distinct members who bring diverse contributions to the whole. It is the members' sharing of something with the whole that makes them a part of it; but it is their adding something to it that makes them valuable to it. Our communities are where we work out who we are in the world -- how we are connected to others, and how we are different. A strong community celebrates both the connection and the difference.
This idea of community seems to bring together my own ideas about politics -- it is the organizing principle that animates all the rest. And when leaders appeal to this principle, it brings out the best in us. That's why it's a principle worth understanding better. But that's for another post.
But community is about more than connection; it also is about seperateness. The ideal of community presupposes distinct members who bring diverse contributions to the whole. It is the members' sharing of something with the whole that makes them a part of it; but it is their adding something to it that makes them valuable to it. Our communities are where we work out who we are in the world -- how we are connected to others, and how we are different. A strong community celebrates both the connection and the difference.
This idea of community seems to bring together my own ideas about politics -- it is the organizing principle that animates all the rest. And when leaders appeal to this principle, it brings out the best in us. That's why it's a principle worth understanding better. But that's for another post.
posted by Rob at 6:28 PM
3 Comments:
I applaud your thoughts on community. It is a word worth defining. What is a "community?" What are the processes by which a community is developed, both on a local and a national level? What actions can we take, both as individuals and as individuals trying to influence government, to move our society towards more effectively developing communities, again on both a local and on a national level? And, in our even smaller communities of friends, civic organizations, and religious organizations, what can we do to facilitate the development of community? These are all questions that have occurred to me over the years that I have never been able to take the time to adequately answer, and I look forward to your attempts to work through these issues, and I will try to contribute my fifty cents as you do so.
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arry said...
The archetype of community in the western world is in the admonition of Jesus to love your neighbor, leading to the sacred community of the early church: "they love each other".
Many years ago I encountered another community that met that criteria, called AA.
The family of course is a basic community; when it breaks down, the marriage breaks down.
The small group has always been my aspiration for the community (large churches are ridiculous).
In the small group you become intimately familiar with one another, which can generally be expected to lead to that love that glorifies and enobles the community.
Some people are gregarious by nature, especially Rob. That makes him an outstanding convener of community.
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