The challenge of living in community
February 2022
The Covid-19 pandemic and the ebb and flow of pandemic restrictions and vaccine directives has uncovered a societal challenge in our province and country. I think this challenge is felt more keenly in those of us who belong to the dominant, Eurocentric culture. Those who are rooted in minority or indigenous cultures often have a greater sense of being part of a definable community – from which one gains benefits and to whom one has some responsibilities, some accountabilities. In these definable communities, children learn from a very young age whom they need to respect, where they can gain wisdom and learn skills, and what they need to contribute in order to build mutually-supportive relationships and live a satisfying life.
In contrast, those of us who are raised in the dominant culture, while usually benefitting from the definable community of our family with its responsibilities and accountabilities, otherwise learn only what actions should be avoided – things that are prohibited by laws or frowned upon by societal norms. Beyond those, we consider ourselves free to direct our own lives while we insure that our choices and decisions do not hurt the people we care about. And for the most part, as long as we are not affected by some new existential occurrence that challenges our usual lifestyle choices, this approach seems to work well.
If we recall our upbringing as children, our life-choices - our attempts to fulfill our immediate desires – are most often channeled and directed by what we are prohibited from doing. We want to express ourselves through artistic creations but we learn that we can’t colour on household walls. We enjoy not being restricted by having to wear certain clothes and shoes, but we learn we can’t run outside naked. Initially our parents, and then our teachers, and even our peers put boundaries around our lifestyle choices which we (usually) learn to observe. But within those boundaries – stopping short of prohibited behaviour – we see ourselves as free to live as we choose.
In adulthood we accept that we must pass a licensing test in order to gain a driver’s licence and be able to drive a vehicle. We accept that there are rules of the road that must be followed – but within those rules we’re free to drive as we choose. So we learn to live within a “bounded” existence of laws and regulations telling us what we can NOT do.
But what happens when we are faced with an existential crisis that causes the authorities in our society not just to inform us about what we cannot do, but to also direct us and our life choices in what we must do – behavioural choices that we are no longer free to choose or ignore? How do we respond when we are directed to conform our behaviour and lifestyle choices in a certain way that is “for the good of the whole” – for the well-being of the rest of our community and society? For many of us this is a new experience. I imagine that this is not new for those who have lived through a national or global war where the seriousness of the crisis was obvious and governmental directives around rationing, nighttime blackouts, or restrictions on using certain materials needed for the war effort, while disruptive, were accepted.
I believe that this transition from viewing one’s life as completely self-centred and lived within prohibitive boundaries to seeing oneself as a responsible member of a larger community and making lifestyle choices for both the good of self and the good of the community, involves a kind of maturing to living with a wider and more holistic view of life on our planet.
The current Covid-19 pandemic is just such an existential challenge. I think for many in our communities, the experience of responding to and living with and in this pandemic presents a strong challenge to (what I would consider) a less mature approach to living in our society. No longer is one free to simply “live by the prohibition rules” and otherwise be free to live as one chooses. No longer can one say, “As long as I don’t do these things, I can do anything I please.” The pandemic and the necessary response of governments and medical authorities has forced us to make an existential shift – to become more mature and realize our responsibilities and accountabilities for living as part of the “whole” – as a member of a community – the human or even “created community” of this earth.
As Christians, we should be able to “practise” this maturing through being active disciples in a church community. Our membership in the Body of Christ is not (or at least shouldn’t be) characterized by a list of prohibitions. It is directed by the call to love God and to love our neighbour as ourselves. And this calling of Christian discipleship continually nudges us beyond a self-centred life to a life that recognizes its interdependence in the larger community and accepts the responsibilities of participation in the larger society.
As frustrating as all of the “anti” demonstrators are in this pandemic, we need to empathetically and patiently encourage them to see “the bigger picture” – to realize that their “my rights – my choice” philosophy is ultimately destructive, especially if all members adopted that approach. The middle of an “anti” rally is not the place for this work, anymore than during the rebellious acting out of a teenager is the time to try and help them realize the weakness of their position or actions. These are conversations we need to have one-on-one in a calm and safe context. After all, the ultimate goal is to work toward all of us finding our place in living in this larger community.
The Rt. Rev. Donald Phillips
