By Steve Matthews, FaithX Senior Missional Consultant

We are talking a lot about community this month in the blog posts.  The word “community” can mean a location on a map, it can refer to the people who make up that location (FaithX has many data layers to help you figure out this part), and community can also refer to that unique internal feeling of trust, possibility, and interdependence we feel with our neighbors and those we come to know in our locales.

It’s this internal sense of community I want to reflect on in this blog.  Post-election we can choose to only stay with like-minded people who voted like we did, but what is lost when we draw such hard lines?  Lines that can become footings for impenetrable walls.  How might we do the hard work of finding like-hearted individuals – people of kindness who yearn for the common good as much as we do?

I am a gardener, and I have dabbled in the practice of permaculture.  I am going to way oversimplify the definition of permaculture, but at its core, it’s about using the gifts of your landscape, climate, and neighbors to create a fecund environment that is hospitable to all living beings.  It’s about honoring diversity and creating a self-sustaining ecosystem.

In lieu of lots of words this week, take four minutes to watch this video.  Afterwards, consider these questions:

• Why does community matter?
• What does your community mean to you?
• What are the practices that nurture beneficial relationships?

Let your FaithX colleagues help you nurture life-giving community!