6.24.2006

singularity and community

It's interesting living in a city where we speak in plurals rather than singulars. My housemate chuckled once when I referred to the town "cop" rather than cops. My hig shchool, despite being rather cliquish, still only had "A goth" and "A cowboy" and maybe one or two "wannabe Gangsta kids" (I was the wierd bookish smart kid who never got in trouble and tried to be sorta hippie-ish or granola or whatever you want to call it. Word to the wise: when half your classmates have parents who raise beef cattle, giving a persuasive speech on why vegetarianism is good in English class will NOT win you any popularity points. Yeah, that was me.)
As someone who is used to standing alone and doing her own thing, it has been a definite struggle to operate as part of a community. I am called to community. We are all members of one body and each have our own unique and important gifts. Yet, somehow I managed to dive straight onto my face in the endeavor of living in community. Being vindictive, griping about people behind their backs and telling yourself you're just fine on your own are NOT healthy ways to be part of community. Anyway, I'm praying for change, and I've done a good deal of apologizing along the way.
No one said community was eas.y

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