Out of contempt for Christianity or mockery
of the Christian doctrine of unconditional love, brotherhood and selfless community,
Voltaire, the French Philosopher defined the religious as:
“persons who gather together without knowing
one another,
who live together without loving one another,
And who die without mourning one another!”
who live together without loving one another,
And who die without mourning one another!”
These are strong words, intense words,
penetrating and piercing words. These are thought-provoking words especially
for those who believe in the message of Jesus Christ. Even more stimulating are
the words of Voltaire for those communities that are intrinsically religious such
as monasteries and communities for religious men and women; for those institutions
whose very mission is to be a sign of God’s power to unite men in love,
fellowship and friendship.
These are challenging words for those
organisations whose mission is to build a world community of nations and
states. Those whose organizational vision and objective is to transform nation-states
into a truly international global community. Organisations such as the European
Union and the United Nations. These are stimulating words for those entities
that endeavour to bring a transition from merely being sovereign nations to a
global union of interdependent and international cooperation and coexistence
among the nations of the world.
These are words of depth to anyone who
believes that they are somehow connected and united to the human being who
stands next to them in vulnerability. These are words which I believe, ought to
bring a shudder to those who feel a call at the very core of their being to be
a brother or sister to their neighbour. Who feel a divine call to live in love
and community with others. This is a call to meditate and ponder on the mystery
of community and our authenticity in living out the command of Jesus to “love
one another as I have loved you.” It is
a call to become once again a community of women and men who have learnt to love
and to love deeply without reserve or regret.
The
Disciples after Jesus Ascension:
After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus,
the early Christian community heroically succeeded in becoming a deep and
authentic community that made a lasting impression on everyone. It was a deeply
eucharistic community; the body of Christ. It was a community that had managed
to transcend their individuality and subjectivity in order to embrace the other
in his or her entirety.
As Luke puts it:
“The faithful all lived together and shared
and owned everything in common…: they went as a body to the temple everyday but
met in their houses for the breaking of bread; they shared their food gladly
and generously” (Acts 2:42) This text shows rather clear the bond of
responsibility for one another.
Scott Peck in his book, The Different Drum:
Community Making and Peace (1988), refers to the work of Keith Miller in The
Scent of Love (1983) in which he proposes the underlying principle for the
phenomenal success of the evangelisation of the early Christian Community. He
argues that it was not because of their ability to prophesy or speak in tongues
or to perform miracles or due to the exciting doctrine. Rather, it was due to
the fact that they had discovered the secret of the power of community.
The
Scent of Love
Keith Miller then goes on to make a vivid and
clear description of the scent of love;
“Someone would be walking down a back alley
in Corinth or Ephesus and would see a group of people sitting together talking
about the strangest things- something about a man and a tree(the cross) and an
execution and an empty tomb. What they were talking about made no sense to the
onlooker. But there was something about the way they spoke to one another,
about the way they looked at each other, about the way they cried together, the
way they laughed together, the way they touched one another was strangely
appealing.
The onlooker would start to drift farther
down the alley only to be pulled back to this little group like a bee to a
flower. He would listen some more, still not understanding, and startto drift away
again.But again he would be pulled back, thinking, I don’t have the slightest
idea what these people are about, but whatever it is, I want a part of it. Keith Miller calls this the Scent of Love, I call
it the scent of the power of community.
But how is community possible? What should
one do
to become a part of it? What should one be to become a part of it?
1st
Things : Inclusivity
I belong to a number of organisations, societies,
associations etc. One thing which is common to all of them is their constant
struggle to be definite and complete and at the same time to be open and
inclusive to new ideas and individuals. It is true that communities must
struggle with the extent to which they are going to be inclusive; there must be
a desire to extend themselves if communities are to flourish.
In this regard rather ironically, churches
struggle with which kind of sinner to include and which kind to exclude. All
are sinners though! (Irony and paradox at it’s best). Some churches, religions and
organisations also struggle with including certain sexes, races, ideologies and
creeds or dogmas. A true and genuine community ought to be inclusive of the
wide spectrum of the human reality in its various conditions: its brokenness and
its vivacity and glory.
2nd
thing: Able to hold on to traditions and transcend them.
The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus
had asserted that “the ultimate reality is change” “There is nothing permanent
and constant except change” and “No man
steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the
same man also because other waters are constantly ever flowing on you.” In
these old yet popular quotes in the philosophical circles, Heraclitus made the
point that change is ultimately inevitable. That it simply can not be evaded or
dodged.
As a matter of fact, if we are consistent
with our claim about the inclusivity of community, then change and progress is
a logical consequence. It would be absurd to believe that a community which is
authentically and genuinely open to new creeds, individuals and expression of
the human nature would be constant and unchanging. To accept the other in their
entirety is to embrace compromise, negotiation and finally transformation.
3rd
thing: To
truly love unconditionally
I am always dumbfounded by the word “love” because
though I know what it is about, I feel I can not describe nor explain it .
In this regard only three things will I explicate
with the hope that they will cast some light on this very heavy theme which is
deserving of a whole article.
1.
Realism
I have to confess as well before I speak about
realism of my own personal idealism and naivete. I write and speak and think
like a kid who believes that paradise can come to earth, that ‘happily ever
after is possible’ ‘that love conquers death’ and ‘that genuine global
community is possible.’ Realism is simply about the ability to accept the flaws
of which we are all victims; to genuinely see oneself as one is and others as
they are with their lights and shadows. It is important to be aware of the
gifts of others and their abilities and talents but also to accept and embrace
their brokenness and limitations. Only
with such a mindset can we recognise the interdependence of humanity. Realism is
about humility to see things as they are. But the brokenness of our world
should not stop us from dreaming about rainbows and unicorns in the city of
happily ever after.
2.
Vulnerability
Vulnerability is essential in community. It
is simply about putting off the façades and masks of perfectionism; to let the
masks drop and only then can we see both the suffering and the agony, the courage
and the deeper dignity of which we are all sharers. However, in my religious
tradition, confessions is a secret thing: it is done under a seal. we naturally
hide our wounds. However, in community, we should be able to speak freely of
our wounds and weaknesses. It also demands that we should empathise with the
wounds of our neighbours because only then is love genuine. I dare say that
there can be no love , no community , no fellowship without vulnerability and
the risky confession of our ‘sins”. Only then can we all respect each other as
human beings – then we become community; messengers of the scent of love.
