For the last few months I’ve been reading a great deal about community. I’m getting ready to preach about community in the coming year so a great deal of my time has been spent thinking along the lines of what community is and how it works and what type o results it produces.

In the course of all this thought I’ve found myself being more and more moved when I see community overcome some obstacle. I’ve started to wonder why my emotions have come into play. Why does the sight of people who are committed to each other, working together to achieve something stir something in me? Am I just getting more sentimental as I get older? I don’t think so. I’m afraid that what is happening is I’m realizing what I’m missing.

There’s not much community any more. I have trouble coming up with examples in my life of real community overcoming the obstacles of life. We live in a world and society that worships the individual. I live in Texas. This is the epicenter of individualism. The pull yourself up by your own bootstraps capital of the world is Texas.

I know the stories of community are out there. I know you’ve lived some of them. I need to hear them. I need to hear them so my preaching is real and relevant. I need to hear them so I can pass them on to others who are looking for community. More then anything else I need to hear them so I can believe that community is still possible.