Author: David Ellis

Don: It’s very clear that in the narrative of the lost sheep, the consequences of isolation from the community are very great., The shepherd’s pursuit of the errant individual to bring him or her back to the fold, back to the community, gives one a sense of how much is at stake; of how great…

Don: In Matthew 18 (the story of the 99 sheep and the one lost sheep) we saw that Jesus is in the business of bringing lost sheep back into community, and it seems safe to assume, therefore, that there is value in so doing. Jesus clearly regards individualism as a state of incompleteness. The idea…

Jay led the meeting. Jay: Having just read M. Scott Peck’s book, The Different Drum: Community-Making and Peace, I thought today we might explore some of the principles and stages of community Peck talks about. Are there any parallels between the assertions in the book, on the one hand, and what God might be doing…

Don: As we all know, Alice’s daughter died on Wednesday. It is perhaps ironical to see, playing out in our own small community (that is, this class), the subjects we have been discussing: Community and individualism. Harry’s comments on the Maureen Dowd article we have been discussing in emails are also relevant to the topic….

by Robin Tessier January 3, 2013 I’ve had this unannounced experience of seeing faith in action, recently. Something that actually demonstrates what Scripture defines as faith, according to Hebrews chapter 11, verse 1:  “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” In this world, the tangible, so-called proven…

Date:    January 2, 2013 From:   David To:        Everyone Don just told me that Alice texted him at 4:30 with the news that Fay had died peacefully. May God bless Alice and her family and console them in their grief. Don asked me to let you all know. David

Community vs. Individualism Don: Our discussion of community and individualism gives us an opportunity to reach out and help Alice and her family deal with the blows life is delivering to them, in whatever way we can. I feel as though part of the problem with the community vs. individualism discussion has to do with…

I thought this was very relevant to our current discussion, and would share it with you.   December 25, 2012 Why, God? By MAUREEN DOWD WASHINGTON When my friend Robin was dying, she asked me if I knew a priest she could talk to who would not be, as she put it, “too judgmental.” I…

Individual vs. Community  or United vs. Untied (thanks to Eb for the anagrammatic suggestion!) Before the meeting began, the participants expressed their concern for Fay, and for Alice, Ghada and Rimon. We admired the depth of Fay’s “self-awareness” and above all her demonstration of faith, which we thought must be an enormous comfort. David reiterated…