Commune, Community, Commute, Communion

Let's gather over a discussion of how people gather and its role in its importance to our joint survivor.  

Over the past 9 months I have been looking more at how groups of people care for and interact with one another.  In their homes, over a meal, in a religious ritual.  With family, with friends, with strangers, with enemies.  All of these have things in common:

• Its purpose is positive - bringing people together and bringing them to a different point in their connections to each other
• It is nutritive - all of these are opportunities to be "fed", even if some times the "food" is bitter or poisonous.
• It is global.  


• In the depths of the Sahara desert, offering (and accepting) a meal from your host is a social necessity to further engagement or business
  
• In China, the greeting we know is how are you can be translated as "have you had rice"?
  
• In a Mediterranean culture based family home a meal is always offered
• In other parts of Europe or Latin America, a meal is something to be lingered over
• In Africa, a meal can be a bowl of meat and vegetables and break
  
• In Christian churches all over the world, the sharing of bread and wine in Communion is universal (even when grape juice replaces wine) as a joining of a community around a common symbol of grace, caring, and bonding together.
  
• In Jewish families all over the world Passover and other occasions are celebration of appreciation and remembrance of God's grace provided to the Jewish peoples. 
  
• In can be done by sharing your resources, even when they are sparse as seen in people bringing meals to those in need or facing challenges of health, money, death of some one close to them, or, even, in bringing a part of a meal to the house of a host who has invited you to their house for a meal.
• It can be seen in first responders, medical personnel and ordinary citizens who run toward danger, like a bomb blast during a marathon or a building attacked by a jet airplane.  
• Its visible in caring work done for others with out regard for reciprocation.  It can be seen in gardens being planted or weeded, lawns being cut, snow being shoveled, rides to doctors or church, and many other ways for people or families in need of support during old age, overwhelming grief, chronic illness or acute family challenges including a home burnt to the ground.

Taking this to the context of violence and war, maybe the answer to conflicts between states, tribes, religious sects, races and other separations that cause violence, physical or other wise, maybe we should be bringing meals and a welcoming table with out context other than communing and building a community.

Bombs, guns, poisonous gases, genocide  and missiles are often used, to rare positive effect, and often only worsen our world in any number of ways.  Maybe we should be using more bread, wine (or juice or water) and many other types of shared cultural food to underline our commonalities and not our differences.  And like many families table rules, no politics,  religious or sex talk is to be allowed at the table. 

Break out the table, chairs and subsistence. and let the world commune on small and large scales.  Maybe we can make our world a much better place.