So, we may not be able to change the world or our whole town but let's start with what we can do. How about we all make the effort to change the street where we live - to build community and make it a pleasant place to live.
Last night I sat and wrote a few ideas for how to do this:
1)Welcome new neighbours by going round and introducing yourself and taking cakes or something. Perhaps give them leaflets on useful information about the area.
2) Invite neighbours round for open house, a coffee morning, a meal
3) If someone is ill offer practical help with chores or childcare or take a meal round for them
4) Celebrate together and mourn together (births, death, marriages etc)
5) Organise a street party
6) Save energy by sharing machines and doing your washing together - and hang out and chat together while you wait for your washing to be done
7) Set up a co-op. Swap items of furniture, borrow tools, offer skills, share childcare... It could be in the form of a website or a weekly newsletter through everyone's door?
8) When you go to buy groceries, ask anyone who's stuck at home (eg elderly, single mum, ill) if they need anything from the store.
That was just a quick list I came up with. Please add your ideas to the list.
the list you came up with is surely a very good starting point.
ReplyDeleteI am not so sure though that such a community can work. one thing is to help those who need, quite another is to share resources. While it is theoretically a winning approach it is also rarely a working one as group dynamics are often disruptive.
best regards
A.
I agree this kind of deep community isn't easy to achieve but this is how Jesus encouraged his disiciples to live and the early Christian church lived this way. People are beginning to rediscover this way of living that Jesus taught. One example can be found at http://www.thesimpleway.org
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