Paul Fromont does it again - this time on community

I'm thinking about having a typelist of Paul Fromont nuggets (kind of like Jonny's Worship tricks!) ;)  we seem to share some weird global wavelength... here in safespace been wrestling with how/what it means to be a community of diverse people/"churchmanship"/even theology (hence the long post below) as he does regularly Paul comes up with a quote which spookily speaks right into our conversations with this from Henri Nouwen...

The word community has many connotations, some positive, some negative. Community can make us think of a safe togetherness, shared meals, common goals, and joyful celebrations. It also can call forth images of sectarian exclusivity, in-group language, self-satisfied isolation, and romantic naïveté. However, community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another. Community is the fruit of our capacity to make the interests of others more important than our own (see Philippians 2:4). The question, therefore, is not "How can we make community?" but "How can we develop and nurture giving hearts?

...thanks again Paul. 

Technorati Tags: Blogging: Community: Emerging Church: safespace

Comments

[matybigfro]

fantastic

[Miriam]

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.

Miriam

http://www.craigslistguide.info

[Mark Berry]

Thanks Miriam... you are most welcome

[Paul Fromont]

You're most welcome Mark. I don't know why I'm still surprised by the "spookiness" - it's happened to me so many times over the year...