June 28, 2018 Common Good

Kindness As a Collective Act

In community, I am part of a circle in which kindness is evoked and valued and named. To deal with an individual property and a collective property, we can consider … ways that [such] a property can be brought into the world. [We ask] “How do we do it together?” Suppose I say, “Let’s you and me and her cook dinner for those people across the street who have lost a loved one.” In this case, we are doing kindness together. We are collectively kind; we are performing an act of kindness as a group.

What is one need you see in your circle? A fellow community member who needs assistance or a little space to recover? How might you reach out to two or three others and offer something together, a meal, a gift of a weekend away, a group project rebuilding a porch. Resist the temptation to lead it all on your own. Instead vulnerably bring a few people together and include the person you want to show kindness toward.

 

 

McKnight, John. The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods (pp. 72-73). Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kindle Edition.

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