About being in need

Continuation of reflections on day with Simone Campbell (See post of Sun., Apr. 14)

One of the things Simone did was cast a new light on the vow of poverty. For her, the vow calls those who profess it to a "radical awareness of our need." It puts the focus not on property and possessions but on an attitude of spirit, one of dependency and mutual responsibility. She didn't say so, but it occurs to me one could translate this as a call to community.

This state of mind is a drastic departure from how most of us in our society are trained. Taking cues from the iconic world of America's early west, most forces during our developmental stages push us to independence. We are consistently told, in one form or another, to "stand on our own two feet." As adults we tend to look at government or church programs for the disadvantaged not as "hands up," but as "hand outs."  Still another facet of this is that collaboration and compromise, basic in any kind of community, are often interpreted as signs of weakness, of not taking a tough stand.

People of faith, and most certainly a Christian faith, are called to a contrasting perspective. Jesus mandated love as the binding force in our lives -- love of self, yes, but love of others in equal measure. This kind of love is not a one-way street; it forms a map of connections and interconnections all grounded in one source, God's love for all of us. And it's a give and take, not give or take!

In genuine community, whether family, business, church, or government, my receiving from others is just as important as my giving to others. I have to know that I am not the holder of all truth and wisdom. I have to realize that my own gifts and talents do not contain everything that the community needs at any given moment. Many times my greatest contribution to building a relationship could be to allow another person to be the giver, the source of light, the healer. I have to recognize that, as Simone said, "I am not enough."

I remember when Hilary Clinton wrote her book entitled "It Takes a Village," many people scoffed at the concept. I hope by now more people see it as a deeply spiritual and practical truth.

a ky monk