The Civic and the Divine

Many people have a tendency to care with our words and not by our actions. We sit in our warm homes and watch as the world wastes away on our large televisions. We pity the poor souls and whine for somebody, somewhere to do something about it. As the program cuts to commercial, we go back to eating our box meals like nothing ever happened. What will it take for us to change? What will it take for us to take seriously the degradation of our planets, societies, families, and whatever and realize that it is going to take a collective strength to change anything? We seem to be firmly rooted in the desire to attain the OUR “American Dream” not realizing it’s only a shadow.

I really enjoyed F.G. Baileys notion of the “civic” and the “divine.” Again, the “civic” refers to the rights, responsibilities, and obligations that bind both and individual and their group. The “divine” is the thing that becomes greater than an individual and the activities of the group. The idea of a collective coming together for something greater than any one individual within is close to how my family operates. The paternal side of my family is huge. My Dad has eleven brothers and sisters and all except one live extremely close together. You can find seven Bragg households from one street to the next! My Mom comes from a family that has too many members to count (between biological, adopted, and foster children). The roles within my family are a little blurred. Our responsibilities are atypical but there is a common goal that binds us all together, the “divine”. Even as everyone grew up and out (but not too far away), the ideal remained. We take care of one another. We give of our surplus to ensure another does not go without. We come together so solve problems and there is truly strength in numbers.

This is unlike average. Many would prefer to have much and it’s not even a thought to share ones home, food, money, and companionship with someone outside their nuclear family. We want OUR bottled water, OUR organic foods, OUR healthcare, OUR luxury cars, OUR American dream. And our sense of entitlement, our individualism thwarts others. As the Jeff Dardozzi article proposed, it is going to take a collective effort to survive- to turn this ship around to have sustainable living practices. This is much greater than individuals and their desires. Like my family, local communities to global communities will have to come to truly make a difference. It wont be easy... but like I said, there is strength in numbers.