How to Build Communities: Building Bridges and Breaking Barriers

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!”

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?

1^st 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.

2^nd 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.

3^rd 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.

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