Thoughts on Community

I continue to be challenged by the thought of living in authentic redemptive and reconciling community. It is something that we often discuss glibly in our churches, as though we embodied true community simply because we are "the church." Yet, it may be that this very talk, full either of self-confident hubris or blind denial, is actually the greatest obstacle to authentic community. It has become a barrier to true vulnerability, which is a place where the redemptive and reconciling work of God powerfully encounters our lives.

I was struck this morning (once again) by this convicting call to live in community from the Benedictine tradition. This excerpt is from a contemporary interpretation of Benedict's Rule:

“It is best to live one’s life with the support of a community which shares right values. When someone leaves such a community temporarily, let that person guard himself or herself. A human being is especially vulnerable when not supported by others.

"Let no one attempt to hide faults or to cover up for another. Hypocrisy is the result of such actions, and hypocritical living is false living. Humans live in groups, and honesty and candor are essential both to the health of the community and the individuals in it.

"Each day we must seek a forgiving heart, for without the cultivation of an attitude of forgiveness we will never be at peace. We will live in forgiveness only to the extent that we can truly become forgiving persons ourselves.”

From: “Community” in John McQuiston II, Always We Begin Again: The Benedictine Way of Living, 65.