I live in a Christian community focused on in-common living.
Community requires commitment to stick things through. Having a common vision is important. More important is having the commitment to sticking with it, and relationship tools to help keep friendships intact in tough times.
Some key tools:
-right speech: no gossip, slander, or negative humor
-forgiveness: saying I’m sorry when offending or harming someone, and having real forgiveness
-making agreements: specific commitments that, when times are tough or good, the group can rally around.
I second someguydave's comment. More broadly, could you tell us a bit about your community? What principles is it based on? What is the lifestyle there? How is it organized? What do people do there? Is it open to newcomers?
As he said, forgiveness and reconciliation. Sticking with it. I’m sure there’s limits and it’s often easy to tell when someone is sorry and trying to change versus taking advantage.
Community requires commitment to stick things through. Having a common vision is important. More important is having the commitment to sticking with it, and relationship tools to help keep friendships intact in tough times.
Some key tools:
-right speech: no gossip, slander, or negative humor
-forgiveness: saying I’m sorry when offending or harming someone, and having real forgiveness
-making agreements: specific commitments that, when times are tough or good, the group can rally around.