In recent discussion among friends we have had one main topic of conversation; What is Community? The answers range from helping friend’s move, grieving and rejoicing with one another to regular fellowship. But what actually makes community? Community is defined as a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists. I live in the Community of Arlington, Texas but do not necessarily consider Arlington Texas to be my community. Someone put forth the idea, and I think rightly so, that community comes when the relationship takes on a more intimate level that changes and influences all that are involved.
Upon observation of public situations, I would further suggest that our lack of community directly results in our lack of concern for our own reputation and the results of our actions. If a youth strolls through the mall with his pants half way off and profanity spewing from his mouth, who will be there to chastise him? Who will be there to question his behavior and call attention to his stupidity? The community of Arlington? Does anyone know this boy who might report back to his mother? And what if his behavior is far worse than teenage foolishness.
What happens when that foolishness branches out into activities that result in life-long consequences? Who is there to influence him down a better road? How can we live by the concept of “it takes a village” when you have a mega-village?
Recently we have seen efforts for creating community. In areas like “Uptown” you have developers coming in to create condos and commercial properties that would indicate an attempt to create some type of “community.” But the result is a new age of young yuppies having one more material outlet for “one-up-ing” each other. These “community” buildings are more like movie sets that appear to be real on the outside than actual communities of people sharing life with one another. But isn’t that what we are all longing for deep down? Is that why we watch hours and hours of “Friends” in syndication? Are we so longing for our own sense of community that we want to live vicariously through an ensemble cast fictionally portraying just that?
On a rant, my husband (a rejecter against most new technology) pointed out that as we strive for easier communication through cell phones, I-pods, internet etc., that we are communicating less and less and isolating ourselves more and more with our individual electronic devices; these very devices designed to bring us closer together (and in some aspects they, of course, do) separate us from simple old-fashioned communication with our fellow man. So without providing any actual answers we are back to our original question; What is community? Where can we find community? How can we truly provide community to one another? How can we live with an instinctive desire for community in a changing, developing world that increasingly refuses to lend itself to forms of basic human interaction? How can I have community?
