Community

In my real and online world recently, two families have had their lives catastrophically turned upside down in the blink of an eye.  The lives they knew are no longer.  They have had a new life thrust upon them.  I will post about these separately because you simply can't bundle together two such extreme events together.

But the one common element that has come through that is glaringly and happily obvious is the sense of community and the need to rally by those in their "communities".
Remember in your high school debating speeches an easy start (and a way to kill 40 seconds in the 3 minute speech) was to do a dictionary definition - humour me for a sec...
"Community", according to Dictionary.com (whatever happened to the big ol' Oxford dictionary?) is a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists.  
Ok, I'm not sure if this completely fits what I'm trying to say so I'll put it in my own words...

Community evolves in times of need, when people want and need to help those in need.  They need to do something.  Anything.  It's the maternal "I'll do what I can to fix it, I'll make it better" kind of attitude.  Doing nothing stinks.  We make meals, we pick up kids, we donate money/things, we text/call/visit, we cry, we celebrate, we pray, we don't stop thinking about those in need and put them in a quiet and thoughtful place in our minds.  And through this, the "community" is created.  We know there are different levels of involvement in the community from the "first level" support, to the strangers who just want to do something to help.

And the common thread running through the community is that noone needs to be recognised, nor thanked, nor even slightly acknowledged.  We are just grateful to be part of it and do anything, large or small.  And we also want whatever has rocked their world, to go away and be over.

I'm a member of a blogging group Aussie Mummy Bloggers, and one of our own, Lori from rrsahm has just lost her husband in a tragic, devastating event.  She posted this sadly, when there was a glimmer of hope, asking for emotional help via her blog....
Please, keep praying. A tiny part of me believes miracles are possible. I can feel all your love and positive vibes. This- the Intenert, my communtiy- this is where I've been coming when the pain is so badf I cannot breathe. I read your messages, i feel your prayers, and it gives me faith and comfort.  
Pop by her blog and share some love.  She has asked for it and she needs it.  Others have kindly set up fundraising (although Lori doesn't know about this and has asked for nothing other than love).  The set up of meal rosters is underway.  And for many of us in her community, we have never met or physically talked to Lori, but blogging has a way of connecting you with someone, because, lets face it, many of us slap our heart on our sleeves and share.   
Communities are formed by a collective group of people who just want to help for no reason other than help is needed.  And don't you think it's reassuring to know that in times of need, you won't be alone.  Remember when I posted this about Teams and I asked "who's on your team?", I think communities are different.  
Because you'll never know who's in your community until you need it.