Community

I have been thinking a lot this week about community. The community of family, neighbourhood, school, work, and, of course, the community of the world we live in. Today. In 2014.

Community has always been important to me, and yet, I have often not felt a part of community. In my early work situations I often felt like the odd-woman out, as if I was swimming up-stream.

I think I found my first true community when I became involved with La Leche League in my early thirties. I was actually thirty-three, an age, I believe, is a profound age for many individuals. It was the age that Jesus was when he was crucified, and for many a pivotal point in their own biographies.

It took me many years to find my true vocation, as a Waldorf teacher, and to find my true community within the school where I taught, and the waldorf education movement in general.

I now have found community within a knitting group, and I am beginning to find community in a spinning group as well.

It has taken me well into the second half of my life (if I am blessed enough to live to one-hundred), to truly find myself in community.

It has made all the difference in my mental health.

There are still places I am striving to find true community, and sometimes it is found within the relationship of myself to only one other person. As Jesus said, "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

I also believe that when people gather the archangels find our meetings fascinating and come to witness the actions and interactions of the group. I keep this in mind when participating in large groups where issues may cause tension and friction between individuals.

Far be it from me to piss of archangel Michael!

And of course, you, dear reader. This social media has given me a great community that I wrote about earlier this month.

I do feel the support of this community.

We can't do it alone.

We do need the angels to help us.

We do need to feel that our presence in our family, our neighbourhood, our school, our world makes a difference.

And we need to believe that the presence of others in our community makes a difference too.

That is why I love this quote by Rudolf Steiner:

“A healthy social life is found only, when in the mirror of each soul the whole community finds its reflection, and when in the whole community the virtue of each one is living”.

And, when I look at society this way, I can see why some communities, some societies, some people have so much struggle and why there is so much unhealthy social interaction in our world.

Our world. Our community.

We can do better.

I know we can.