Roots

THE FOUNDATION OF COMMUNITY 

If you happen to take a short drive north of San Francisco, you’ll run into one of the great natural treasures of our country: the California Redwood Forest. The size of those coniferous trees is legendary and stunning. It’s hard to imagine that one of those trees grew from some little seed. 

Now, you would think that the very size of those redwoods would dictate that each one must have a huge underground root system to keep them from toppling over during a major storm. To the contrary. They have a very shallow root system. The one thing that saves those trees from falling is that the root systems become so intertwined that all the trees are connected in such a way as a group to support each individual one. 

Now, that sounds like a real community. It’s all about the roots. A strong foundation with connections to others enhances the overall strength of a community to help everyone withstand whatever forces come against it. 

We are much like those trees. 

The strength to sustain ourselves against the forces in life that seek to topple us is only found in community. The living of life in real time and in context of each other’s lives gives us stability, meaning, identity, and love. These are the roots that form a very solid system of interdependence among other members of the community. 

When we seek to live virtually, none of these characteristics are ours to share. Simply, the physical intertwining of our roots is impossible in a virtual context. 

So those who have substituted this artificial community for the real one and then expect to receive from it all the things you receive from a real community will awaken one day only to find the emptiness of artificial satisfaction. 

Unfortunately, people have not only begun living in this artificial community, but they have also built their homes on this foundation, expecting to find the fulfillment that cannot be achieved. Ultimately, the more people spend time in an artificial “community,” the more likely they will topple when forces come against them. Often, their purpose in life will topple as well. 

Knowing your purpose in life is the ultimate freedom. And creates true community where freedom can flourish because it is other directed. It exists for the common good only in communion with each other. There is no common good without a community. It’s like love. It has no definition until it is given away. It’s not love if it is self-contained. 

The Internet “community” is filled with voices telling us every day that we do not have a purpose other than to fulfill ourselves. If you feel that serving the greater good is about you, think again. It’s never about you; it’s beyond you. If it’s only about you, then it is not true community. And if it’s not true community, you’ll never have the roots to sustain the tsunamis that will come against us. Like those redwood trees, it takes time to grow those roots, so we can become the people we were meant to be. 

Take the first step toward unfriending the virtual shortcuts to community. Give your roots time to grow deep, then intermingle with others who will help you stand during difficult times.