The recent government shutdown and all the turmoil it has caused whether perceived or real has got me to thinking, for those who know me that is sometimes a source for concern. I am one who tends to think out loud, trying to process through certain scenarios, my wife is most often the target of these thoughts that I throw into the air, I sometimes catch a glimpse of her as she receives these thoughts and I notice great concern in her eyes and I remind her that I am just thinking out loud.
A lot of the talk around these debates or lack thereof seems to me to center around groups of people who are represented by the legislators in Washington DC. They say they are just staying true to the ideas of the people that elected them, their constituency back home (their community).
If that is indeed the case, I have some grave concerns about the direction our country is headed in. We as a country who has as a founding principle of being/becoming a strong community; these “United States”, has lost its focus, it is and has in my opinion been trending for some time now in the direction of more individualized communities that have become the primary focus and concern of our elected legislators (whoever has the strongest community supporting them is the one who gets elected), and if my community elects me then I need to stand up for them; after all they elected me . I agree with all of that in principal, the problem comes however when we lose sight of the big picture community; as in what is good for the entire community, not just my group, but my town, my city, my state, and my nation and ultimately the global community.
Our view of community has become much to narrow; we have become communities of exclusion, which in reality is not community at all, because they betray the very notion of what true community is.
I am one who believes that the restoration of true community is the only way to save our world; all of our world, but first we have go back to the basics of teaching the meaning of what true community really is: it is many coming together as one, using their combined gifts to improve the quality of life for all. We must teach this first and foremost at the local level; in our families and in our schools and if we teach it there first and we can get it to stick, it is something that can be translated into a generation of people who truly care about each other as a community, and a generation whose primary goal will be improve the quality of life of all who live in community (and that would be all of us); and in turn they will become a community that has as its goal, the saving of our world.
It is time, that we all take the time to learn along with our children the importance and value of becoming a true community. For it is their future that is at stake, if we say that we love and care for our children, then we truly have no other choice.
Just me thinking out loud or pondering true community …
Seeking Peace 