foundations of community

community has been a favorite pondering of mine lately. i was looking at the conversation between christy and i about community education.

christy said

The Latin root of "education" is something like "e" = "out", and "ducare"="lead"

So I liken "education/leading out" to "invitation" in the sense of inviting someone/something that's already there, to come out...like in play therapy, or the Pied Piper!

The workings (and playings) of community are so fascinating to me--it's one of the areas of my life that has my fullest attention, and at the same time it's one of the parts that is the most challenging and frustrating!

i've been asking around, collecting various opinions on what are the pivitol workings and playings of community? here are a few of the pieces i've received. care to add to the list?

*shared focus/intention/direction
*common goal
*respect
*communication
*understanding
*recognizing others' needs
*listening