800 Words
Lately, I have been reflecting about the importance of community. Chaotic times make people afraid and uncertain. In the past twelve months, Americans have grappled with a lethal virus; the issues of racism, white privilege, and police brutality; record unemployment; a government which does not seem to be working for the people; and a rebellion at our Nation’s Capital. It would be so easy for all of us to simply shut ourselves away in the hopes that when we awoke, all these struggles would be gone.
Jean Vanier, the founder of the world famous l’Arche community for the mentally handicapped and their care givers, wrote a unique and brilliant book many years ago entitled: Community and Growth. In it, he writes about the nature and meaning of community.
“Community is like an orchestra: each instrument is beautiful when it plays alone, but when they all play together, each given its own weight in turn, the result is even more beautiful. A community is like a garden full of flowers, shrubs, and trees. Each helps to give life to the other. Together, they bear witness to the beauty of God, creator, and gardener extraordinary.
“Community brings together people of very different temperaments. Some are organized, quick, precise, and efficient. Others are open, flexible and love personal contact. Others are shy. Others are extroverts, optimistic, and even a bit exalted. God calls all these opposites together to create the wealth of the community. It may not be easy at first. But gradually, we discover what a richness it is to live with such a diversity of people, and such diversity of gifts. We discover that difference is not a threat but a treasure and that variety is the evidence of life.” (page 251 and 252)
As a lifelong musician and one who enjoys gardening, Vanier’s imagery speaks to me in a powerful way. Think for a moment, if an entire orchestra that was made up of cellos! It would be wonderful if we were listening to the music of Villa-Lobos morning, noon and night. But that would get tedious after an hour or two. The cellos need the violins, violas and basses for the richness of harmony. And what if the strings did not have the woodwinds, brass and percussion? There would be little or no Beethoven, no Tchaikovsky, no Verdi, no Vaughan Williams, or Copland. What a sad world that would be.
Or think of a string quartet: two violins, viola, and cello. When attending a performance of chamber music, I enjoy watching how the musicians in that ‘community’ pass the melody back and forth to one another. The first violin finishes a phrase and hands it to the cellist and vice versa. The ensemble is such a rich example of what it means to be community. No one has all the gifts. None of us can play the melody all the time (no matter how badly we want to). The musical composition is enhanced when each one of the musicians plays their part in an effective way for the good of the whole ensemble.
Novatian (c. 200–258) was a leading presbyter of the Roman Church, and one of the most noted personages in the Church of the third century CE. Few details are known as to his life but Novatian was a man of learning and had been trained in literary composition.
In his treatise, “On the Trinity”, Novatian penned:
“After all these things (referring to the creation) had been accomplished, God placed man at the head of the world – man made to the image of God, endowed with intelligence, discernment, and prudence so that he could imitate God. Although the primordial elements of his body were earthly, nevertheless the substance was infused by a heavenly divine breath. When God gave man all these things for his service, he willed that mankind alone should be free” (Chapter 1).
Is it possible to look upon the events of the last year and see that each person is “made to the image of God – endowed with intelligence, discernment, and prudence”? That the black man, the white woman, the Asian teenager, the Indian elder are all made in the image of God? God is best understood in the diversity and that, as Vanier expressed, “difference is not a threat, but a treasure and that variety is the evidence of life.”
The richness of our nation is the diversity of its people and their gifts. While some try to divide us by color or privilege, by education or by wealth, we must cherish and defend the fact that our differences are not a threat but a true treasure to be celebrated, discovered, trusted, and used for the betterment of the whole. This is a unique time in the life of our nation. We have the opportunity to render the greater community healthier, stronger, beautiful, and more equal. Guided and supported by the power and wisdom of Almighty God, may we have the grace and courage to make it so.
