Community!!

No one wants to be on their own and one way or other we all want to be part of a community.  I think that is what I have enjoyed the most about the last ten years as I have had the honour to be part of a few of communities whilst I was in Argentina and even here in England.  I am convinced that community is our original design no man was ever meant to be an island. Unfortunately the phrase 'a man's house is his castle' has kind of backfired because this is the case for many people having seemingly everything they need they don't come out of their castles which in many ways have become prisons.

I used to be really into Soap Operas and I have to be honest that I am still drawn in by them and a little while a go I realised why that is!   I remember watching these soaps or similar programmes always thinking ooh I would love to be there with them.  They all seem to know each other and are in and out of each others lives.  There doesn't seem to be any lonely people they all congregate in a cafe or a pub or a market. Whether its Neighbours or EastEnders or even Coronation Street.  I watch these programmes thinking our lives are not like that I don't know as many people in my neighbourhood and they seem to. Of course there lives are extremely screwed up and I would not want to be in their shoes in any shape or form.  The truth is my life is very exciting and I continue to be amazed by the twists and turns of my life.  However what I see in these make believe worlds that are shown on our television screens is a sense of community which I don't see around me apart from today of course the royal wedding.

When I look at the soaps and such like I see church yes evidently without the most important part Christ but the way that the all know about each others lives drop in and out form relationships quickly well my belief is that this should be what the church looks like with Christ at the centre.  When I don't have community in my life that is when I fall foul to the soaps and I often hear others talking about the characters on the screen as if they really are part of their family or community.

Facebook and twitter are so popular because it is a virtual way of being part of a community social networking is a way to be part of an online community, however in my opinion this cannot be a replacement for good old hanging out together.

It is my sentiment that we need to get back to community it goes without saying that this is what we need to do as a church and in a way we already are a community especially as we are the body of Christ.  However we need to be a more closely knitted community that outsiders would look at and want to be part of.  Our nation needs a restoration of community rather than escaping into a make believe world of community on our computer or television screens.

Across the nation today people were meeting as communities celebrating for the royal wedding I had the pleasure today to be part of a royal wedding street party even if it was in someone's garden as I sat there I thought to myself this is community this is what we need to do more often we shouldn't need a royal wedding to build a sense of community I am sure we can think of many other reasons to have a community sindig!!!