More Thoughts on Friendship
Taylor Gage
Issue date: 10/1/09 Section: Opinion
Proximity. It's an aspect of community often forgotten in the age of texting and Facebook. Many people have lived in several states, owned homes in more neighborhoods, and even had more phone numbers than children.
Few people feel any attachment to their community or even their own neighbors. The house next door might as well be a foreign country you don't know its citizens, and you probably will never step foot within its boundaries.
This lack of attachment has atomized communities to the point where individuals no longer feel a duty to care for their fellow man. When Jesus said "love your neighbor as yourself," he ordered us to care for those closest to us without qualification.
But why does rootedness in your neighborhood even matter? Are we not rooted in other institutions? Churches? Clubs? Families? These institutions provided a certain type of rootedness, but not a sense of place defined by geography and location.
A sense of place defines our sphere of responsibility to our fellow man. Because we choose this sphere, we often isolate ourselves. Thus, our relationships with our neighbors must become a more intentional activity than at any other time in the history of man.
Few people feel any attachment to their community or even their own neighbors. The house next door might as well be a foreign country you don't know its citizens, and you probably will never step foot within its boundaries.
This lack of attachment has atomized communities to the point where individuals no longer feel a duty to care for their fellow man. When Jesus said "love your neighbor as yourself," he ordered us to care for those closest to us without qualification.
But why does rootedness in your neighborhood even matter? Are we not rooted in other institutions? Churches? Clubs? Families? These institutions provided a certain type of rootedness, but not a sense of place defined by geography and location.
A sense of place defines our sphere of responsibility to our fellow man. Because we choose this sphere, we often isolate ourselves. Thus, our relationships with our neighbors must become a more intentional activity than at any other time in the history of man.
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