Life can be transient. Continually moving, never settling. Thanks to the advances of technology, we may never even meet the people we interact with on a daily basis. Isolation and loneliness; they’re epidemics hidden behind busy Facebook profiles and those oh-so-glamorous, but fake, Insta-smiles.
The opening pages of the Bible reveal what it took years for professionals to figure out, “It is not good for [people] to be alone.” Community and connection are part of our basic human needs. Yet even living in close proximity doesn’t make you part of the community. It takes way more than that.
Uniformity is not the mark of a strong community. Far from it. The imposition of a particular way of doing or being can break down identity and the sense of community. Depriving people of their ability to think for themselves can destroy the individual expression that gives colour to life’s canvas
Community must be built. It takes time. It develops on a common idea that draws people together, and keeps them together. The safety of friendship allows sharing and participation. A strong community doesn’t brush issues under the carpet, but communicates humbly and openly. Even when we don’t see eye-to-eye.
There are freedoms that we have taken for granted; freedoms that have been hard-won but even in the 21st Century are not available to all. In 1941, the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt articulated his goals for American life, called The Four Freedoms:
- Freedom of speech.
- Freedom of worship.
- Freedom from want.
- Freedom from fear.
In Roosevelt’s world, each and every person should be peaceable and able to live at peace, with the freedom that comes from having what they need. Fear and poverty have no place in that place. He dreamed of the freedom to choose your religion, or to change it, and the freedom to say what you think, even if your choices are unpalatable to others. You might call it the freedom “to offend and to be offended”.
When we have the freedom to be different and yet are committed to each other in spite of those differences, monotony gives way to excitement. When we live in harmony not unison, that makes for a much more vibrant community. That’s the kind of community I want to be a part of.
Community doesn’t come free. Like all investments, there is a cost. Time. Coffee. Emotion… But if you’ve immersed yourself in community, you’ll know the dividends far surpass the investment.
“What can I do to invest in my community today?”
