Still Searching
Our study this week touched on the advantages of living together in community. To quote the Teacher, "two people can acomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for hteir labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble."What is it that draws us to want to be together in community? What is it inside of us that often resists that urge to be a part of a community? How does community assist us in finding meaning in our lives? Can community also be a hindrance in our lives as well? If so, how?
posted by CrossPointeDave @ 2:32 PM
1 Comments:
I remember a saying that “shared burdens are not as heavy” from somewhere. I can agree with this kind of sentiment, a unity of purpose adds energy to whatever we are doing. In fact, many times, it feeds on itself and increases the energy level even more. You get a level of trust developed and can focus more on your part of the task because you believe the other part is taken care of. Further, if you are having a hard time with your part, a person in community has people to reach out to for ideas, assistance or even just sympathy.
Trust in others or in oneself can also cause us to want to resist the urge to be in community. You may not trust that the other person truly cares about you and your needs or, you may not much care for yourself and not believe that you deserve to be in community. Trust, like faith has to come from a clean spot in your soul. We have to find a place where our own fears, failings or neurosis are not overshadowing our feelings and perceptions and then trust from there. Also, it may be difficult for us to find that clean spot at times due to feelings of inadequacy or a little dislike for oneself.
Community can be double edged, the individuals in it can model the ideals we strive for, love, compassion, caring, nurturing. These people can help others relax, let down the guards and not fear putting down the shields. At the same time we can have judgment, acrimony, selfishness and thoughtlessness modeled as well. These attributes will obviously cause the turtle to withdraw back in the shell. I also think that at times community can become too invasive, know, or want to know to much of your personal business or life. I think in community we need to strive to get to know each other and resist wanting to get to know of each other.
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