Community

Gathering Prayer: Holy One who is known to us by many names and in many ways, we give thanks for the blessings that we have in our lives. Be present now as we enter a time of thought and discussion.

Focus: Social Capital is the mutual trust and cooperation that arises from the web of connections among people involved in organizations and community groups. Robert Putnam’s successful book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2001) put the issue of social capital into the context of popular culture. Putnam noticed that bowling leagues had declined significantly in the last few decades of the twentieth century. People still bowled, but as individuals and informal groups, not as part of a league. This change prompted Putnam to worry that the decline of membership in community groups was eroding America’s social capital. 

Tonight, we talk about social interaction, community, and bowling alone

Sentences on the Subject:

“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” — Desmond Tutu (on ubuntu*)

“Online life offers the illusion of companionship without the demands of friendship.” — Sherry Turkle (The Power of Talk in the Digital Age)

“When different generations regularly mix, at parks, cafes, churches, or community projects, knowledge, empathy, and civic participation are renewed and strengthened.” Margaret Mead

“We are biological creatures whose minds were forged in the social crucible. To be isolated is to be deprived of the very essence of our humanity.” To be solitary is to be not-human, and if forced into a solitary existence for any length of time, a human being will begin to go insane.” EO Wilson,Author Sociobiology

We don’t see a lot of models for male social interaction. There’s sports and barn raising. Chuck Palahniuk,(author Fight Club

Probe 1.  “In my little town, I grew up believing (that) God keeps his eye on us all; and He used to lean upon me, as I pledged allegiance to the wall. Lord, I recall my little town”.(Paul Simon) 

What was the neighborhood like where you grew up?

Probe 2. Modern neighborhoods often trade front porches for back decks and garages, designing environments that, despite close proximity, foster profound social isolation through car-centric, privatized living. As one source notes, “Suburban sprawl advertises big houses and fences for privacy, but they actually serve as solitary confinement“

Do you agree? Do you know your neighbors?

Probe 3. Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee’s dead, the morning’s looking bright; Your shrink ran off to Europe, and didn’t even write. And your husband wants to be a girl…Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You want to go where people know, people are all the same. you want to go where everybody knows your name.(Cheers! Portnoy and Angelo) 

If social interaction is so important, why has modern society abandoned it?

Probe 4. “Consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.” St Paul Hebrews

Can a person be a Christian (Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist) by themselves or is community required?

Commission: Hold on to what is good. Love deeply. Honor others. Stay excited about life and your faith. Be joyful. Be patient. If you pray, have faith. Share with people who are in need. Welcome others into your homes. Be loving to those who hurt you. Be present; be in the moment. Be agreeable, even with those with whom you disagree. Be humble. Be a friend of people who aren’t considered important. Do the right thing. If possible, live in peace with everyone. And remember, no matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey- you are welcome here.

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*Ubuntu is a profound Southern African philosophy often translated as “I am because we are” or “humanity towards others,” rooted in the Zulu phrase Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu. It emphasizes that a person is defined through their relationships with others, embodying community, sharing, compassion, and the belief that individual well-being is tied to the collective.