Community...

...is a completely foreign concept, at least here in America. We've taken the patriotic concept of "independence" and twisted it to mean "privacy", or "no trespassing", or "stay the heck away from me!". Self-reliance is highly valued. One shouldn't have to depend on others. Rather, we should all be able to make it on our own. Of course, "self-reliance" is probably a fancy word for "foolish pride".

A neighbor is no longer someone with whom you have a connection. Instead, it's a term based solely on geographic proximity. A "family meal" is rare enough these days, so you can imagine how often we get together as a close-knit community to dine. Sharing is not too popular. Borrowing (with interest) appears to be the favored path. Our children seem to learn the word "mine" without ever hearing anybody verbalize it.

There just might be a problem with this whole way of life. It inhibits love. When we isolate ourselves and merely focus on how circumstances affect us (or our families), then we tend to become enamored with the self. And love, it would seem, was not meant to be an inward thing. It's meant to be shared. So, thanks to a skewed view of "independence", we become a loveless society. We either experience the widespread absence of love, also called indifference, or we suffer under the burden of love's counter, also known as hatred.

Get what you can get for you and yours. It's the American way. But what's it costing us?