Traditons, friendships and community

Got to celebrate a half-century birthday with a friend last night. His friend had set up a Dutch dinner to celebrate the milestone of 50 years. It was a crowded dinner. Bill was the common denominator and it was sort of minor-amazing to notice how quickly this disparate group formed a common experience around Bill's half century birthday. This was a fun event with all the normal things that accompany someone hitting the top of the hill (50). There were the requisite jokes about forgetting (wish they were as funny as they used to be), about body functions, about those good old days of childhood along with laughter toward the leisure suits and shaggy hair cuts of youth. There was also a great Thai meal (Ann's Restaurant in Florence) and a guilt inducing piece of birthday cake. And, this morning I am thinking about Aristotle and community building.

Aristotle discussed the discourse used in ceremonies (epideictic) and last night's 50th birthday party was such a great example of how this type of discourse brings people together and helps them in bond in that common experience I mentioned above. Common experiences are also those happenings that lay foundations for friendships or for something a little less intense, productive acquaintances. Common experiences in the form of events, ceremonies, planned get togethers, etc. give people an opportunity to expand their personal spheres and perhaps make new connections.

And, that is the bridge that leads to community building. It takes a lot of cooperation, collaboration, cohesion and connection to sustain any type of community. Whimsical celebrations like over-the-hill birthday parties are important to strengthening smaller communities like the family or the church family and other common experiences focused on special events can and do help people cross the barriers of their personal defenses, meet new people, reengage with old friends and perhaps spark a new encounter that may possibly lead to strengthening, sustaining or expanding a community.

Some may think that is putting a lot more into a 50-year-old's birthday party than might actually be there but I am thinking that we might not pay as much attention to these type events as we should if we want to be part of building stronger communities at all levels of our lives.

So, Happy Birthday, Bill and, Dorothy, thanks for all the work in bring so many people together. And, Catherine, Joyce, Carolyn, Ken and Patty, I really enjoyed sharing some time with you guys.