Good American philoposphy, that. But is it true?
You might think that our life in community is an expression of the opposite view: "The good of the many outweighs the good of the few, or the one", a view, in fact, expressed by Kirk's famous pointy-eared comrade, Mr Spock.
Is this the case?
Last night our community house family all dressed in Indian clothes, ate samosas and bhaji's, improvised bhangra music - one even made a turban out of a scarf. Why? We were honouring the birthday of one of our newer members who is from India. We wanted to say "This is your home. You can be you here. We love what you bring to us."
In this case, "the good of the one" was uppermost - rightly and vitally so.
For any community, any family, the good of the many and the good of the few - or the one - cannot be separated.
"If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together" (1 Corinthians 12:26)
3 comments:
And we, being many, are one (Rom 12:5; 1 Cor 10:17).
So the good of the one means the good of the many, which in turn means the good of the one (the whole). Which means the good of the One?
Getting a bit mystical there, Stu. Next you'll be reading The Interior Mansion... ;-)
I completely agree. We are a church which proclaims "Everyone is valued". That means everyone forgiven for who they were, respected for who they are, envisioned for who they can become, with all needs provided for, and encouragement and support through the highs and lows of life. We are a body. For us to function in this way, the wellbeing of every part of the body, every individual, must be the concern of all. Greater honour given to those in humbler positions.
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