mur-c-mi

Are we in this together?

The word "community" seems to be becoming a very hot word in all kinds of arenas. What we don't realized is there are many things that are conducive to the development of community and conversely many more things that are barriers. Some things we think are good for community are actually counterproductive. An example is families more and more running around doing all kinds of activity and the only community people experience is while driving in the car. I know many people who rarely sit down for dinner together and eating in the car is far more the norm. A program I've been listening to called SPEAKING OF FAITH is bravely asking many hard questions in this regard as well.

Over the years I've listened to this very eclectic broadcast periodically mostly when I'm driving. But, since the Fall of 2008 they've focused a series called REPOSING VIRTUE which is in response to the current economic crisis. I've been very encouraged to hear others wrestling with the very real possibility of a impending cultural shift which could very likely completely reshape the landscape of our society. As I've tuned in or downloaded a podcast I've heard the word "community" countless times. One of the voices I heard tonite said something very surprising and I felt it typified American culture to a tee.

The story told was of a time when the interviewee was a child. He was a latch key kid and one day he wanted to make a cake for his mom to surprise her. Like I've done countless times, he opened the cake mix package, dumped it in the bowl and discovered there were no eggs. His mom had told him many times of harder days when she grew up in the segregated South and how although the black community experienced tremendous hardship they stuck together and were always there for one another. In those days if someone needed something it was unheard of to refuse another in their time of need. So, he went across the street to a neighbor's house who he'd know would be home to ask for 2 eggs. When his mom came home he felt his resourcefulness would be as much apart of his gift to his mother as the cake itself. Much to his surprise as he told his mom about how the cake came to be she quickly became upset and he received a lecture about him about going through the neighborhood asking for handouts. The teller of this tale noted that times have changed even more so than when he was a kid. We are isolated and we as a people do not expose need. On the contrary we fortify facades to present completeness.

But, in the financial times that we find ourselves I hear more and more about the need for community and co-operative living. But, just exactly how is that supposed to happen.? Just because we need this kind of living doesn't mean we know how to do it. We hardly no how to share let alone practice all those things we were supposed to learn in kindergarten. More often in our culture if there is any kind of extension to someone in need it is not from a place of mutuality. Generally, there is more of hierarchy of well meaning benevolence. Someone generally has the upper hand.

From the beginning of this "crisis" I've felt there is a tremendous potential for change and that just like an earthquake can bring about instantaneous shifts in the Earth's plate. More and more people are talking about reevaluating what is important. But, after several decades of disposable relationships including marriages and families how are we going to navigate becoming community. We've lost the art of it. Do we know how to value one another? Do we know how to wade through the mire when someone isn't being pleasant because their world is collapsing? What's it gonna be?

posted by kt @ 5/17/2009 09:38:00 PM