Opting for Community

A friend of mine shared an article on community by David Roberts. The author often writes about energy and climate change, but in this piece, he turned to the topic of community. For many of us, community is part of the answer to sustainability and lowering our energy use. When we come together in community, we can share resources and more efficiently.
In this article, David shared another aspect of community. Namely, the quality of human relationships that formed when disparate folks are thrown together in community, or make a deliberate choice for community. These communities are often the hot-bed for deep and meaningful, life-long relationships.
In community, we negotiate shared values and we navigate differences. The day to day, week to week, year after year efforts to work together can build lasting relationships that can endure long separations and still be sources of friendship and support.
Shared experiences of community can bind college friends together, as well as families and others who experience intense community relationships.
I am more interested in community in the context of religious life. I have experienced the deep and lasting friendships and the mutual support that we afford one another in our communities. We share a commitment to vowed religious life and to our particular charismatic expression of religious life. I am grateful for this aspect of religious life which brings us into circles of community.
I also have the privilege of living with other sisters, in an eco-village. We form community to help one another to build community and sustainability. On Halloween, we joined others in the eco-village for a pot-luck and for trick-or-treating with the kids in our neighborhood. How rich I am in these circles of relationship!
Peace,
Amy