It will be regular that I will comment on Northern Exposure episodes here. I am afraid that it is sort of my "bible," which is scary to me. I still hold the Bible as part of my resources for life, but Northern Exposure expands outside of that. It just seems shallow that a TV is what reaches deep into my soul and rips out questions I didn't want to ask myself. Shouldn't that be the Bible's job? Perhaps it's not so strange since I was brought up on TV and find it my main medium.
The show I watched tonight was about Joel (the doctor) being adopted by a local Native American tribe. Simultaneously, the bar owner closed the bar and left the town without a common meeting spot while he watched the stars for a star he bought a number of years ago. The show, with no surprise, was about community.
It talked about how years ago we were individuals and then we formed into tribes and then the networks became more complex until things are just blurred. The doctor, who at first abhorred the idea of being adopted by this tribe later came to love it because it was a simple community in which he could belong to. He talked about how he was part of a tribe of New York Knicks fans, a tribe of Jews, a tribe of apartment owners.
It made me think about my own networks. I have the people I live with, my family, my friends, the environmental groups I'm in, and the business school, St. Pauls, etc. And yet out of all of these "tribes" I feel scattered and somehow unfulfilled. I'm throwing this one out on my own because I am aware that many people feel a deeper connection to their communities than I do, but I just feel a disconnect. I am well connected, knowledgeable, and constantly meeting with people, but I don't really feel connected. I guess part of the reason I created this blog so that I would have some sort of community. A way that the internet has been used very much today.
One related issue this week has been my girlfriend being irate with me about breaking my lenten promises and not going to Church. Lately I have felt disconnected with my faith and I think it is due to my lack of a proper faith community. I do not feel at home with the people at the faith community here in Madison. I probably could make an effort to be more involved in the community, but I just don't feel like it's worth it. It's just a feeling, no quantifier behind it. I think this is why I broke my lenten promises (besides the fact that none of them meant anything to me). I feel like we should always be moving toward Christ, always improving ourselves. That's not the point of Lent. The point of Lent is to sacrifice yourself on a part of the community. It is the same reason that mass should important. Not because you're damned to hell but because you feel connected to that group.
I thought about this point because the Native American tribe made Joel go through many sacrifices to join their group from fasting, to giving up his belongings, to sleeping outside and watching for visions.
I think we make sacrifices for the communities that we feel strongly about. The question is what communities do we feel strongly about. Currently, I guess as I said my family and friends would be about it, but I see those more as network and less as a community. I'll keep grappling with this one.
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2 comments:
Great post.
I don't think making personal Lenten sacrifices brings one any closer to the church community. In fact, even going to mass is often futile. Mass is quite often personal reflection done in a community setting, but it doesn't guarantee that there will be any actual interaction with other community members. At least I've never met anyone new at mass.
Community service is the best way of making a sacrifice to the greater good. However, there are more subtle ways to spread community--maybe as simple as striking up a conversation with the person next to you in lecture--to me, that is a positive contribution to the UW-Madison community. If you just sit there silently, you are still a part of that group, but how connected are you to it?
Another random example is the "community" of Brewers fans at a game at Miller Park. This is a gathering of groups of strangers, who share a general appreciation for baseball and a desire to cheer for the team from their city. However, when does the crowd cheer the loudest? I found it to be at the Brewers/Yankees game--so there is definitely a deeper meaning there--the blue-collar, Midwestern, low-payroll, "Bushville" team going up against the Big Apple and the corporate hierarchy that the Yankees represent.
Not only that, but I've struck up random conversations about baseball with complete strangers at games--it usually starts with "do you remember when..." or "were you there when __ happened" or "where did we get 'Player x" from?". It isn't much, but it does suggest that we share some sort of bond over something as insignificant as a team of millionaires.
I think you could draw a parallel comparison with people at the Obama rally at the Kohl Center.
This concept still is elusive to me though--I understand there's meaning, but how can this possibly share any relevance to the Katrina or Tsunami recovery efforts. A baseball game suddenly looks somewhat meaningless. But then again, the first Saints game in New Orleans a year after the hurricane was the most powerful symbol of the recovery.
Looks like I need some help with this too...
So, the thing is, don't feel bad about breaking your Lenten promises. Be in a state of constant self-improvement
Joe - where do you watch your Northern Exposure (internet, box-set, tv?)?
Sometimes community bonds are formed by adversity or crisis. Look at say New York after 9/11 or an infantry unit on the frontlines. I'm not wishing you any adversity but everyone experiences it and maybe future experiences will bring you the sense of community that you feel that you lack right now. I feel connected to my friends and family because I feel that we are all headed in the same direction. Our goals are to improve our own lives and the lives of those around us. That makes comrades out of all the good people in the world.
Of course being non-religious I have no critisms for you for breaking lent or missing mass! I always hated going to church and I think lent is pointless. Why flog yourself for no reason? Go help someone instead.
I'd love to discuss more religion with you Joe but since you haven't blogged much about it in the past I'm not sure if it is a topic you are interested in.
I'd also like to say that I really like Joe Z's closing comment.
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