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Fallibility is a part of the human condition, and therefore a reality of the relational world. This is a key distinction we make here. Institutions are not good at surcease and sorrow, the whole tragic and sad part of life. They do not know what to do, because institutions are designed to last forever. They act as if they are immortal, which they are not. So failure, sorrow, and frailty threaten their mythology of eternal life.

[On the other hand] communitiesrecognize and accept fallibility, and do not try to change it. So we will pray for you, we will do rituals. We have cultural ways of dealing with fallibilities and tragedies. The system way is to try to fix it; the community way is to memorialize it.

This relates to the… distinction between a condition and a problem. As soon as we call something a problem, it begs for a solution and we start shopping. When we view fallibility as a condition of being human, we see it is within the capacity of the family and neighborhood to deal with the condition and even see the gift in it.

Our limits, failures and frailties are opportunities for community. Institutions stay in business by defining these as problems to fix… leaving all of us feeling “in need of fixing.”

Learning to live with your own contradictions, making peace with your needs and limitations, is a gift.  It is a gift for the community to be of service to one another. Rather than shopping for a “outside solution” to hide your fallibility, consider turning toward others in your community. This also has an affect on the notion of neighboring presence. Being a community member is to accept the gift of another’s failabilty as a condition for working together, rather than a problem to be solved.

Who has been a neighbor to you? Who accepts and steps into relationship with you at the point of your fallibility? Is there a way to open your own fallibility to that person or to others in your immediate relationships, workplace, or community? To not do so, may be withholding a gift.

McKnight, John. The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (p. 89). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

A competent communitycreates space for what is unknowable about life. This is another major distinction from systems. The acknowledgment of mystery has advantages: the sense of strength that comes from letting questions go unanswered, the sense of aliveness that comes from realizing there is more than what you know. All learning comes from moments of mystery. Mystery is the answer to the unknown. In actualizing its abundance, a community welcomes mystery, for that is a catalyst for creativity. Mystery gives us freedom from the burden of answers. Answers are just a restatement of the past.

Being “competent” is not just about how well you do your job or how you perform.  That can be important, but competency in community also means having the capacity to be open to what we don’t know, to stay curious.

On one hand this means giving up the burden to be the know-it-all. What spaces do you currently occupy where you believe yourself to know best? How might you hold space for unknowing, for mystery, for discovery?

On the other hand this might mean taking leadership in spite of your personal sense of incompetence. Often we defer leadership believing that we must wait to lead until we are certain of the outcome. How might you accept responsibility this week in spite of what you don’t know?

Share with someone today where you find mystery in your work and community.

McKnight, John. The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (pp. 90-91). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

Silence is associated with listening. In silence, we are able to listen to our children, our neighbors, and our opponents, people we consider to be strangers. In listening, we also open ourselves to the nature of our neighborhood. With silence, we can learn about the place where we live because we can hear and see the messages of the trees, the plants, animals, and the buildings around us. They are a part of our community with much to teach, once we listen.*

What is one place in your day where you are not “plugged in” or “holding court.”  Do you have a practice of silence that you can build upon or begin today?

Stop, look, listen and notice what is happening all around you. Look up from the page for a moment and note, how many different noises can I recognize? Even life’s most passionate work  can be tiring when we are constantly moving. In the midst, there is beauty to be heard from all things if and when we are able to notice.  People who can live with such silence, actually cherish it, can work with the stranger and neighbor with less anxiety and need for control.

McKnight, John. The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (p. 95). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

The purpose of gathering as a community is to create a way in the wilderness that is not dependent on the scarcity and competition of Pharaoh and empire.

To grasp the full effects of a consumer society, it is useful to understand two of its core elements: (1) the systems and management that have developed to provide the scale necessary for consumerism, and (2) the professional industries that have been constructed to service it. By seeing the consumer ecology for what it is, we can become citizens again. We can shift our thinking and re-decide who we take ourselves to be: producers of our own future or purchasers of what others have in mind for us. 

In adopting system life, people choose to yield sovereignty in exchange for the promise of predictability. Even families and communities turn over their sovereignty for the promise of a safe and predictable future.

Predictability can get in the way of imagination and personal and corporate agency.  How do you and your family adjust to change? Are you able to rely on one another as much as seeking an institution to fix and support you? How does a consumer ecology benefit your business, your food sources, your education? What sort of influence or responsibility does this take away from you and your family or business or community of faith?

What is one thing you can repair rather than throw away and purchase yet again? Is there one decision that you can do for your own family (a game night, a walk, preparing a meal together) that reminds you of what you can make together? Is there one decision you could make with someone else (with a neighbor or co-worker) that can communicate with neighbors and coworkers what you make rather than simply what you consume?

McKnight, John. The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (p. 26). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.