Neighbors pt.1

I have always been infatuated with the concept of community. The way I define a community (as simply as I can) is a group of individuals who live together (or in the same vicinity) who share similar values and a similar vision of where they live. A community can be inclusive, a community can be diverse, a community can be made up of individuals who disagree on somethings, but there has to be a common bond. I have dreamed of sitting outside and being able to chat with the people as they walk by because we knew eachother. I think community is something that is missing from so many places, and it is probably the reason that so many of us feel out of place where we are. I honestly do not know if I have really ever seen a true "community". I think the closest thing to it that I have been familiar with is a college residence hall. I know true communities are out there, even here in the United States, the Amish and The Bruderhof come to mind when I think of a true community.

In short of having a true community, I think that there are ways that we can strive to make ourselves (and others) not feel left out. We can make our own community, and we can do that without sharing the same religion, same ethnicity or even same age. However, I struggle with figuring out how to diminish those barriers so that we (all people) can see eachother as similar before we see eachother as different.

Thoughts? Anyone out there? :-)

More to come...