I wrote something like this on my facebook a couple of months ago. Couple that with reading the book “Christianity Rediscovered” by Vincent Donovon and he talks a lot about the Masai community. Community is something the West doesn’t understand much. It is a total identification with others, does not have competition, takes care of the needs in the community and provides protection. There are no orphans, the sick are cared for, the beautiful and the strong are celebrated, the weak and the unintelligent are cared for, forgiveness is a must, etc… It isn’t perfect, but it’s a way so many people of the earth live.
Then I think of our “programs” to feed the poor or take care of needs. They are usually on mass scale. People show “love” but it doesn’t have many names. I wonder the effectiveness of mass love. Does it really meet the poverty of the pocket and the heart? Perhaps meeting the needs of the ones through relationship is a better way. But it takes living like we’re in community. The community close the community of humanity. Love at its best knows the name of the beloved, and knows it well.
