How does one keep from "growing old inside"? Surely only in community. The only way to make friends with time is to stay friends with people…. Taking community seriously not only gives us the companionship we need, it also relieves us of the notion that we are indispensable. -- Robert McAfee Brown
I have, personally, failed at this miserably. This is what triggered so much of my awareness recently and my drive to change the world. Take a look at all the following current "challenges" and see how easily they correlate to at least one single common factor.
- Taking prayer out of schools is the reason for school violence.
- People not going to Church is the reason for violence and malcontent.
- Famous People don't behave like role models should; there is no sense of responsibility.
- People are having children that don't want them because of moral decay.
A lack of allowing our children to share in a communal spirit, embrace culture and tolerance (it actually goes far deeper than the whole prayer argument). Church is now considered non-trendy, old-school, non-communal, and hypocritical. Famous people aren't supposed to be role models and we made them so, then removed their community, isolated because they have to protect themselves and they have no sense of trust or in some cases even family. People are having children because they lack education (both personal, emotional, empowering and book) which is a communal responsibility.
We have generated an egocentric, wait, 'ego-societal' generation. WE, WE, WE, I, I, I take ownership for the failures of the past and WE, WE, WE, I, I, I must and will take leadership and ownership of the change that will take time and commitment and often leave me disheveled like a politicians email and alone while I infuriate those that fear that which they don't understand. But slowly and surely, it will happen over the course of time where we remedy the crimes purported against our community and ourselves and revive our purpose.
Live in a way that you wouldn't mind if it were viral. Infect people. Take ownership of the whole that you contribute to. In overprotecting a few "dearest" or creating false "idols", we enable segregation on levels far deeper than any visual or perceived label can ever transcend.
In explaining the word pliable to my 9-year old the other day, something sparked in my head. We aren't pliable anymore, the malleability is gone and some stonewall is in its place. Peace and faith (and don't confuse that with any religious overtones, get some vocabulary and remove the judgement) have been replaced with fear and "mines vs. yours".
