Community
It's that time of year again. It's the time where our street again becomes an anomaly. It's the time when people are outside visiting with one another. Last night there were at least a dozen or so folks just talking or playing with each others' kids or kids zooming by on go-karts or people walking their dogs or just enjoying each others' company. I know this happens in pockets of community here and there, but it really is getting more and more rare. Statistics suggest that more than 60% of Americans do not know any of their neighbors. I'm not sure why this is so, but I can think of some major culprits.
Air Conditioning
Television
Garage door openers
Mosquitos
Fences
Whatever the causes may be, I always think its cool when I see people overcome those obstacles and enjoy community. What's weird is that in churches we struggle to find true community and none of the obstacles listed above exist (okay maybe the A/C). To remove those hinderances and add our common bond, one would think the community we share would thrive. Instead it is a constant struggle and often feels forced. I wonder why that is?
Air Conditioning
Television
Garage door openers
Mosquitos
Fences
Whatever the causes may be, I always think its cool when I see people overcome those obstacles and enjoy community. What's weird is that in churches we struggle to find true community and none of the obstacles listed above exist (okay maybe the A/C). To remove those hinderances and add our common bond, one would think the community we share would thrive. Instead it is a constant struggle and often feels forced. I wonder why that is?
1 Comments:
Val,
We noticed the big difference in neighborhoods we have lived in here in Abilene for most of the reasons you have listed. On Kenwood, we would see our neighbors after a storm, as we went outside to watch the water run down the street. On Madison, all the kids played in the front yards and hardly anyone parked in the garage, so we knew most of our neighbors. On Piedmont, almost everyone parks in the garage, and we hardly see anyone.
I think in our particular church life, it is difficult to connect because we are such a big church and we are on such a tight schedule. Smaller, particularly country churches, don't have this problem and they form community much better. My mom was recently in the hospital and my dad said there was more food brought in than they could possibly eat. They live in a very small community. From some of my recent experiences at church, I have seen that people often don't take time to listen to each other. Someone may ask "how are you?" but not take time to hear the answer, and the opportunity to really be community is lost. We can only overcome this and become community by being willing to step outside ourselves and minister to others. That takes time and energy. We must be willing to give of ourselves. Only then can we become community.
Forgive me for taking so much space on your blog - this is an issue I have been really struggling with over the past several months.
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