Sunday Musings, September 10, 2023
Building community
When I think of community, I often think of the word church. In rural Oklahoma where I grew up the church was often the center of community. It still is in some places although this is increasingly not the case. Church for me was the organization which was born out of the teachings of Jesus who gathered folks together to eat, visit, learn and heal.
Religious people often gather in churches, temples, or synagogues. Some gather in 12 step meetings as they help each other recover from various addictions. At some 12 step meetings the gathering is closed by participants joining in a circle and saying the serenity prayer, some other prayer or sage reminder.
When people gather in a circle – community - it can be more difficult to hold on to an us and them mentality. Within that community all welcome births, bless marriages and celebrate life and in some case, eternal life. In some communities there may also be a strong, shared understanding of child rearing. In the African American Church, I often hear the term church baby or child. All share in the caring for the children and each other.
Many churches are now composed mainly of some of my contemporaries -a few older people - who can no longer financially support a paid leader, other staff, or cost of the maintenance of a building. Several churches may share a guest preacher on Sundays who may also be available for weddings and funerals. Increasing they are being forced to face the financial reality that they can no longer retain that shared gathering space. They may or may not be able to join the remanent of other dying religious groups Soon, without the influx of young people, they will be history.
Many people do gather at concerts and sporting events. Some people form small groups centered around hobbies such as bike riding, camping, or fishing. Increasingly in this country shooting sports groups are popular group. When asked about the attraction many use words which strongly suggest a sense of community including friendly competition and a sense of team. The focus is not on the dangers of having guns in the home or on the fact that guns are used to kill other humans. It is not surprising that the NRA is often a sponsor or supporter of these teams.
With the internet and such platforms as zoom, many will form like-minded remote communities of those who share a hobby, political theories, a belief in being victimized, sexual interests or even financial beliefs or goals. There are some retirement communities such as the Villages in Florida who share not only a financial history allowing them to afford to live in that community but increasing a political ideology which may or may not originate in the economic theories and what has worked for them financially. While there are homes in The Villages starting at over $400.000.00 the average annual expense of many of the residents is around $65,000.00 (2021) which allows one to use many of the facilities. The shared facilities help to ensure a sense of community. Historically, surveys indicate the inhabitants of The Villages form a community which leans to the political right (See article in the Bulwark by William Steiner, July 6, 2020 – “Old, White, and Right: The Politics of The Villages.”)
There are other intentional communities such as those formed in the sixties or even earlier. These include the Bruderhof, Twin Oaks and many others. There are also co-hosting communities and other attempts to share resources forming a strong sense of community which usually does not involve a higher being. Many self-help programs may provide a sense of home and community.
Still, significant segments of our nation report feeling lonely, isolated and without a sense of community.
As organized religious communities continue to fail to offer the sense of community which most of we humans require if we are to thrive, it seems as if cult like, political ideologies-based groups and such teams as competitive shooting groups are an attractive alternative for many. For those of us do not experience such groups as an attractive intellectual or emotional glue new alternatives must be explored.
Whether we are talking about our day to day working community or the encompassing community which forms our universe, we humans need a sense of community (connection). The failure to create such communities – to embrace our common humanness – could well result in the ongoing rise of emotional and physical suicide, the feeding of emotionally charged right wing and conservative religious groups who preach obedience to a sexist, heterosexual, and non-scientific god. The members of these groups often seem to endorse the need to destroy evil which may be defined as any behavior or belief which is different than theirs.
The bottom line is we are social animals, and, as a species with some exceptions, require community. If those of us who believe in inclusiveness, nonviolence, and respect for all of nature, do not create healthy, positive alternatives for community then more people will be drawn to those who worship the god of us and them and who advocate the destruction of all that is not them.
Written Septermer 10, 2023
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
Building community
When I think of community, I often think of the word church. In rural Oklahoma where I grew up the church was often the center of community. It still is in some places although this is increasingly not the case. Church for me was the organization which was born out of the teachings of Jesus who gathered folks together to eat, visit, learn and heal.
Religious people often gather in churches, temples, or synagogues. Some gather in 12 step meetings as they help each other recover from various addictions. At some 12 step meetings the gathering is closed by participants joining in a circle and saying the serenity prayer, some other prayer or sage reminder.
When people gather in a circle – community - it can be more difficult to hold on to an us and them mentality. Within that community all welcome births, bless marriages and celebrate life and in some case, eternal life. In some communities there may also be a strong, shared understanding of child rearing. In the African American Church, I often hear the term church baby or child. All share in the caring for the children and each other.
Many churches are now composed mainly of some of my contemporaries -a few older people - who can no longer financially support a paid leader, other staff, or cost of the maintenance of a building. Several churches may share a guest preacher on Sundays who may also be available for weddings and funerals. Increasing they are being forced to face the financial reality that they can no longer retain that shared gathering space. They may or may not be able to join the remanent of other dying religious groups Soon, without the influx of young people, they will be history.
Many people do gather at concerts and sporting events. Some people form small groups centered around hobbies such as bike riding, camping, or fishing. Increasingly in this country shooting sports groups are popular group. When asked about the attraction many use words which strongly suggest a sense of community including friendly competition and a sense of team. The focus is not on the dangers of having guns in the home or on the fact that guns are used to kill other humans. It is not surprising that the NRA is often a sponsor or supporter of these teams.
With the internet and such platforms as zoom, many will form like-minded remote communities of those who share a hobby, political theories, a belief in being victimized, sexual interests or even financial beliefs or goals. There are some retirement communities such as the Villages in Florida who share not only a financial history allowing them to afford to live in that community but increasing a political ideology which may or may not originate in the economic theories and what has worked for them financially. While there are homes in The Villages starting at over $400.000.00 the average annual expense of many of the residents is around $65,000.00 (2021) which allows one to use many of the facilities. The shared facilities help to ensure a sense of community. Historically, surveys indicate the inhabitants of The Villages form a community which leans to the political right (See article in the Bulwark by William Steiner, July 6, 2020 – “Old, White, and Right: The Politics of The Villages.”)
There are other intentional communities such as those formed in the sixties or even earlier. These include the Bruderhof, Twin Oaks and many others. There are also co-hosting communities and other attempts to share resources forming a strong sense of community which usually does not involve a higher being. Many self-help programs may provide a sense of home and community.
Still, significant segments of our nation report feeling lonely, isolated and without a sense of community.
As organized religious communities continue to fail to offer the sense of community which most of we humans require if we are to thrive, it seems as if cult like, political ideologies-based groups and such teams as competitive shooting groups are an attractive alternative for many. For those of us do not experience such groups as an attractive intellectual or emotional glue new alternatives must be explored.
Whether we are talking about our day to day working community or the encompassing community which forms our universe, we humans need a sense of community (connection). The failure to create such communities – to embrace our common humanness – could well result in the ongoing rise of emotional and physical suicide, the feeding of emotionally charged right wing and conservative religious groups who preach obedience to a sexist, heterosexual, and non-scientific god. The members of these groups often seem to endorse the need to destroy evil which may be defined as any behavior or belief which is different than theirs.
The bottom line is we are social animals, and, as a species with some exceptions, require community. If those of us who believe in inclusiveness, nonviolence, and respect for all of nature, do not create healthy, positive alternatives for community then more people will be drawn to those who worship the god of us and them and who advocate the destruction of all that is not them.
Written Septermer 10, 2023
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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