A Moveable Feast

Most communities do not live together. As we poll our "sharers of the sojourn" (those participating in the "Sharing the Sojourn" program should have received a questionnaire recently in the mail) about their experience of community, we can almost predict one result. Most will say that they live alone, or in a family, or with one or two others in a group situation. Intentional, live-in communities are by far the exception.

Judging from the model of base Christian communities (BCCs) in Latin America, this is how it should be. The overwhelming majority of BCCs there are comprised of individuals and couples who have a keen sense of the communal, but who live in traditional single or family homes. Their weekly gatherings nurture a sense of commonality that gives shape to the rest of their day-to-day activities. What is more, Latin American base communities flourish more in rural areas than in cities. This is due mainly to the mobile and transient nature of urban living.

In our citified U.S. society, all of us belong to several communities. Throughout our lives we relate more or less strongly with our immediate and extended families; we often form community with co-workers; surely our social circles offer many elements of community; our political activities can give rise to a vigorous experience of community; and the various expressions of our faith life (church congregations, parishes, Bible study groups, etc.) easily lend themselves to forming community. Often our problem lies in giving each of these groups the attention they are due.

Returning to the Latin American experience for a moment, the most successful base communities seem to be those that are least self-conscious. It is those groups that come together out of necessity, to pursue a common goal, or for mutual help--and then look up one day and discover, "we are a community"--that have the most staying power. The ones that set out detailed parameters for their life in common before actually living in community often don't make it. Time and again in the BCCs one observes the benefit of a commonly agreed upon mission--a goal that goes beyond the existence and concerns of the community itself.

WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS say to "sharers of the sojourn"? For one thing it means that most of us already belong to some type of community. Rather than look for the ideal group to join, perhaps we should nurture what we already have. Second, the wonderful notion of making the road by walking it applies especially to life in community. Reflecting on what has been working and what has not in our coming together will give us the best clue on how we ought to proceed in the future.

Finally, for people of faith every community-like circle we touch presents the challenge of evangelization (which is not the same as proselytization). That is, we have the opportunity to lift up gospel values as they appear to us in the ongoing experience of a given group.

For example, our book club may decide to send money to flood victims in the Midwest. The person of faith might cite this as a reflection of Jesus' words: "I was ill and you comforted me...." These evangelizing moments can gradually result in the group becoming a consciously Christian community--or not. The results are up to God. Our call is to lift up the values of the gospel.

If there is one conclusion from all of this it ought to be that community is certainly a movable feast, with rich variety, and one that walks as many different pathways as there are people involved. Our role as people of the Word, whether in a Christian community or one that is simply human, is to know and live the truth that "God's greatest glory is a human being fully alive."

Joe Nangle, OFM was outreach director of Sojourners when this article appeared.