The past few days I have been thinking about
community and in general a culture of intimacy and interdependence. This
isn't a new topic for me, but it increasingly is on my mind. Can it exist? Does it exist? What does it look like?
When I was in college I had a relatively large and
active community centered around the Christian Campus
House there. There were always people around to hang out with and do stuff
with. If you ever needed help you could just walk
in and say you had a couch that needed hauling and in seconds you'd
have a truck and four guys to help you. On a deeper level I had a decent
number of friends in the group who I could go to with tough issues and
who would support me. It wasn't perfect, but
it was great.
It is easy to idealize college, and overall it is
hardly representative of "real life" but my time there was really good,
and much of that is due to the close community I was in. I made a lot of good friends many of whom I still talk to from time to time. Since then I
have talked to a good number of people on this
topic and almost to a person they have expressed a desire for that kind
of community and belonging. However, I have not seen a real functional
community in the family/working world despite having lived so many places.
Through my post-college life I have had good friends. I have felt at home and a
part of churches. However, I haven't been a part of a group of people
who really did life together. Who lived and participated with each other
on closer to a day to day basis than a week
to week basis. Who allowed themselves to be dependent on each other. I have not felt like an outsider, but I have not felt like I belonged. This has frustrated me to no end. I wish I knew the answer. I wish I knew how to do it. But I don't.
So my question is, why, if so many people want
community, does it not happen? Why does something that seems like it has
so much benefit and promise fail to show itself?
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