Community...
i believe that i have learned what true community is...
i believe that true community is a group of people,
simple people, who have gifts, talents, abilities,
as all of us have..
perhaps they have learned these gifts,
perhaps they were born with them..
but that´s not important.
what is important is that these simple people
with these simple gifts,
use them for the good of their community..
its that simple...
yet that revolutionary,
because it goes against the entire
capitalistm, western ethic
which fools us into believing
that our gifts
are for us...
and us alone...
for our wellbeing, for our security,
for our wealth, and our benefit..
but NO!
community is not this...
community, as i have said before,
is like simple people sharing
these gifts for the community..

an example...
it is like oswaldo,
who left his community for 4 years
to study psychology at a big university
filled with professional looking people
in suits and ties and big pay checks,
and then after those 4 years
left those big important people
and the possibility to be like them,
and returned,
in sandals, shorts and cheguevara t-shirt
to the community..
his community...
and he shared with his community
all he learned.
and he wasnt paid much
just enough to be sustained
as a member of a community of equals...
he served them and helped them
and was served and helped in return...

or perhaps community is like
yeli gonzalez
who after 4 years of studying her GED
at the same time of taking care of her family
is studying to become a nurse
and after 3 more years
will be a nurse,
a good nurse...
who will not work in a faceless hospital
but will return to the tin shacks
of the community...
her community
to serve those who are sick
and she will not make much money.,
she will not have a fancy nurse uniform
but she will be a part of her community....

and true community would be made
if all members of a community did the same.
if we all used our knowledge and skills,
for the betterment of community
and not our personal benefit..
and PLEASE dont think that those knowledge and skills
can only be learned at what they call
an institution of higher learning..
no! because a community needs a baker,
a fishermen, a grave-digger...
even a crazy person and maybe even a town drunk...
when we all learn that we have gifts and talents,
and when we all learn that the purpose of these gifts and talents
is to share them with our community
then we will build the reign of god in our community...
and when we learn to do so in our world,
amongst nations and peoples of different colors and tongues
then we will build the reign of god in our world....
and when we learn to do so even amongst
the flowers and atoms, the stars and the trees and the animals and the most distant galaxy,
then, and only then,
will we have built the reign of god in all the cosmos...
and in our hearts....
AMEN!