Saturday, July 3, 2010

“We cannot be saints but we can create a new kind of community”

Adriano Forgione, an Italian journalist of mysterious archaeology and an expert on ancient and sacred symbolism, says “There is a reality that most of us are too busy to see. Most of us have to fight for our survival every day, we are not completely free. We are not aware of the beautiful world hidden in our reality.” He added, in an interview in today’s issue of local magazine “Circle” that “Of course we have to work but we must also pay attention to the other side. The challenge is to find a richer way of life...We cannot be saints but we can create a new kind of community – more peaceful and more advanced, with a balance we can only find inside us”.

I was struck by this concept because, ironically (or coincidentally), in the same week that I read Forgione’s thoughts I also came face to face with the concept of what community means today on two different occasions.  In one of them, my friend Fr Martin, a Catholic missionary, explained to me that living in community has become fashionable today…and all you have to do is look around you at the many award winning virtual television shows that can be found in all the countries (a trend mainly started by Big Brother and its clones, through Facebook and similar websites).  Yet at the same time society deprives us of this very community spirit we long for.  So while people desire to live together it seems that technology hasn’t made this possible any more. The family concept is losing out…computers, IPods, MP3s, Blackberry or similar i-phones, cut us off from each other on a daily basis while at the same time keeping us in touch. Yet people want to be really touched, to be cuddled, to be loved.  It seems that the culture today has been contaminated with this technology…. and our youths breathe it daily.

We all sit in the same boat, so to speak.  Yet when I, not feeling part of the boat’s community, decide to drill a hole under my seat, then my action will affect everyone in the boat…. we will all sink with it. That is how our involvement – or lack of it - in a real community, family, work, mates, club, group, will leave its mark on everyone in it.  Yet when we go to church to pay homage to our God we often act in the same way….as if we are drilling a hole under our seat and not caring about the consequences.  We go there in the knowledge that we did our duty but we are often praying alone, ignoring those around us, without even properly acknowledging those in the seats next to us. And woe to you if you happen to stray into someone else’s seat in the pews! 

A church should be a real community. It is not the priests; or the Popes and Bishops; nor the building itself.  A church is US…so we are the community that give the church its life.  Christ himself lived by the concept of community – he was never alone, always surrounded by people and disciples, men and women, a close knit community.  So, therefore, we cannot be Christian without knowing Christ. And if we do not experience Christ then our actions are nothing more than religiosity.  We must connect with Christ otherwise we become so subjective.  Fr Martin pointed out that Jesus loved community life.  He loved Peter and John and the rest of his group. He sent the Holy Spirit to the whole community not to those he might have had any preference for.

My friend Pauline, well versed in things psychological and its dynamics in our life, told me that nowadays people tend to anchor their sense of belonging in their families, in their friendships, in their professional identity, in their chosen lifestyles, in their shared interests with others and possibly in their nationality. This belonging is not necessarily identical in all these areas and we can belong in four spaces: public, social, personal and intimate. So when people want to generate a strong sense of community, they may find themselves adjusting their relationships within that community, moving up from the public to the social and personal and then to a more intimate space when this is deemed appropriate.

When people feel they belong, a strong sense of connectedness is developed: persons become more inclusive and welcoming, they become more active and more willing to share their gifts, they become more involved, engaged, sincere, creative and committed, their sense of care for the others develops and becomes more genuine and authentic.

The community is also the place where strong feelings can develop: in growing communities feelings of anger, guilt, shame, contempt, anxiety and fear are acknowledged and dealt with in order to allow them to make way for safety, hope, compassion, gratitude, trust, empathy and meaningful relationships.

In a real Christian community we should be drawn together in response to God's love and by our belief in the beauty of developing an intimate relationship with the Lord. Clearly God's intention is to “draw all men to Himself” (John 12:32), to draw them to an even more intimate relationship with Him. A real community helps one to grow. It tells you how to live, to dress, to act, to be correct.  So what better way is there to be able to do this than by being drawn and belonging to a community that really seeks to fortify and nourish this intimate relationship? 

The Last Word?

DON'T FORGET....
Make yourself at home here, come back and read some of the older cappuccino posts too, relax, reflect.... and comment if you wish....there's a comment button at the end of each post!
I hope to see you again in a few days time. Enjoy.
Cheers!!