No. 64 Community

Facilitator______________
Date___________________

Group Session Plan from FUSN (adapted from Maine materials by Bob Zeeb)

Chalice/Candle Lighting

Opening Words:

Though many find it a safe haven, being in community is dangerous, a threat to the soul. For nowhere else can you loose yourself so suddenly, so absolutely. There is no despair so deep, no loneliness so profound, no grief so sudden, as that felt when surrounded by good friends. Yet, it can be a place of safety, of comfort, of connection, a place that warms the heart and restores the soul. Why this paradox, this seeming contradiction? Perhaps, because we must bring a self, however shattered or weather-beaten it may be, to experience community. Without a self there can be no community. Community requires of us a giving up. Yet, we cannot give up what we do not have. If we have nothing to give up, we cannot take in. So then, community is dangerous. If we have no self, however intense our desire, we cannot belong.
anonymous

Check-in/Sharing

Topic/Activity:
We all have some commitment to and belief in the notion of community. Yet we have different conceptions of it, different expectations for it, and different experiences with it. Consider how you want to be in community and what you want from others in community. Consider also what you need to avoid, or to be careful about, in community. Describe a time when you felt very much a part of a community – when you felt supported, blessed, or connected in community. Describe also a time when you found community oppressive, intrusive, or unsupportive. What, if anything, accounted for the difference between these two experiences.

Select the topic and location for the next meeting

Check-out

Closing Words:

As we take our leave, let us pick up what we may have learned here tonight. And hold it fast in our arms. Let us also hold gently in our hearts, that which is larger than any one of our selves, the vitality of this group. Let us covenant with each other to return again as fresh selves, as new beings, to this space of pain and sorrow and of comfort and joy. Let us then refresh and nourish each other, and return to what we still must learn about our self and each other. Go in peace.
anonymous