Community
How do you define community? It seems to me the proverbial “village” it takes to raise each of us really isn’t a place anymore. Unless, of course, you want the homogenized version of America (no matter where you go you don’t know where you are because it all looks the same).
On a recent drive through large portions of small-town America, I thought about the village that’s raising me, and concluded that I actually belong to many different communities of people, and when I put all of those together – my personal village emerged.
Each of my communities serves a different, but no less important, role in my life, and the people comprising my communities play an active and valuable part in my personal journey. Here is my list:
Church
Family
Professional
Volunteer
Social Media
Dance
Core
My core community fascinates me a lot as I think about the people in that particular circle. They have migrated to the core from others of my communities as our relationships evolved until they have become an integral part of my life. I can’t function without them. Isn’t it amazing how important people are in your world? At least they are in mine. Have you ever wondered, “Why does the village even matter?” My friend Bea always said, “If God wanted us to figure it out alone, He would have put us on an island with a pad of paper and a pencil.”
As I made my way back home on that recent drive, I figured that the Norman Rockwell versions of our towns and their occupants are merely a relic. But surviving is the need we each inherently possess to connect with others – to share our stories and our journeys – and along the way, to find and create new communities that make up the villages of today.
Community does matter. One slice that I see daily is the community that my son’s school has created. It is a true team effort, among the 3 5th grade teachers, the Arts/Music team, the PE team, all with one goal, to give the kids there the best chance at learning. They all care, and it was even noticed by my 5th grader. He said, “So many people care for me.” That is a micro view of how community works to better the individual, so then, the individual becomes part of the community to better others.
This is a beautiful reflection on Community, Arminda! I love that you’ve chosen a quilt square as your illustration too. Really, that’s what we are sometimes, isn’t it: A beautiful stitching together of everyone and everything we’ve met along the way?
I live in a very diverse community right now. So many ethnicities, languages, cultural habits and celebrations, etc. It really makes the world seem so much smaller.
I commented on another blog site yesterday with my feelings regarding online ‘communities’. The question was, do you think Communities should ‘just happen’ – both in their formation and then in their day-to-day operation? Or should the formation and running for an online Community be more intentional?
The link is here if you’d like to weigh in http://frankdickinson.me/2010/09/22/community/
Beautiful post Arminda. You have a very warm and inviting writing style. I’ve subscribed via Google Reader.