A commonality is essential for any group or community. There is a reason the words share the same root; a common purpose is the core of a community. This dictates just how close a bond can form in the community and for how long the bond may last. If you're interested in finding friends who share an interest in surfing, '68 Fords, or Jane Austin, these groups readily exist and one can have a swell time in them. However, commonalities this shallow will not guarantee the support, nurturing, or encouragement that we all need at times when it feels that our lives are being hung upside down and shaken.
It takes a common philosophy to bond people strongly enough to stay together through the difficult times. Times of hurt and pain are natural. Sometimes we despair or simply run out of the energy needed to keep going. These are the times that we need to know we can count on the close people around us to support us in the truth. If philosophies vary too much, going into such difficult times will cause the relationships to crack under the strain of dealing with the pain and facing the different belief systems of our friends. In such a situation, friendships are draining instead of supportive. When weakened by life, we need to be able to count on the safety and support of friends with the same beliefs and values instead of the constant pressure of standing up for our own.
The closer the friendships and community, physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally, the stronger the interdependence and the stronger the impact on each others lives. Thus, the closer the ties of a community, the closer the philosophies of the people involved need to be for safety to exist, else the whole structure begins to collapse as soon as it hits rough times. Most of you know Jesus' great parable about building a house on the rock instead of the sand, and the wind and waves come... If our relatively simple individual lives will collapse in such rough times if we have not built them on the rock, how much quicker will the intertwined lives of a group collapse if they are not solidly built on the same (only) rock?
However, simply having the same philosophy does not garauntee success for a community. A great example are the "back to nature" community movements of the 1970's. Many of these communities had a very strong purpose and shared close beliefs, yet they still failed. They shared common philosophy, but it was still built on the sands of wrong beliefs. Most of these people built their communities on "Returning to Mother Earth" and "We will love Mother Earth and she will love us in return." Nature is not necessarily a loving entity though. There are reasons that mankind has developed housing, central heat, and dependable food sources. Many of these people began to feel betrayed that they did not recieve love in return for their efforts. They became disillusioned and the communities began to split, argue, and crumble. I've watched this happen.
Personally, I love the idea of returning to the land. I'm all for it; my utopian commune is built on lots of acreage with forests, fields, streams, and clean air. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this or for returning to a more utilitarian life style. Look at the continuing success of the Mennonites, Amish, and others. What makes these communities work though is there common belief in God, but He works in urban areas just as easily. Some of the "Gaia" communes I've referred to still succeed in a way, but they have become more along the lines of Earth Conservation Clubs whose members' lands border each other. The deep connection of community that I am talking about has been lost.
I personally believe, that a belief in God is needed for communities to truly last. The views of love and respect for fellow people necessary for a community to work are the basic commandments to being a Christian. I hope to get into the traits needed for a succesfull community in a later post, but for now I will say that these traits will probably prove themselves not to be enough after a while. We tend to easily regress into standard selfish paterns; doubts arise as to where these traits of "loving others as yourself" come from and why we continue treat them as laws. The knowledge that love and respect come from a higher being and are not simply traits that we can choose to use or discard as we wish is essential to maintaining a love for others over a love of self. Knowing who the God of the universe is that these traits come from gives them the weight needed to become the Laws of Life.
