Finding the Balance

This past spring I took a class at Geneva College detailing the problems with the American family; neglect of children, single parent homes, inadequate schooling, lack of respect for authority and on and on and on. In my naive head I simply assumed that families were this way all over the world, but this semester I took a class in Italy and learned that the family there is a strong unit and conversely it is the community that is at risk. While in America the community is the focus and the family is struggling, here in Italy the family is thriving but the community is falling apart. Anyone looking at this picture would assume that a balance must be found between these two extremes. But how is that possible? What is the remedy?

I have yet to find a place in this world where the family and community can work together as two cohesive units. In the modern world we have "advanced" beyond small communities such as tribes or towns where most residence were part of a family anyways. In earlier times the family and community were truly one; a unit interdependent on each member, stronger as a whole and obviously lacking when a member was missing. Today, by no fault of one person or nation, but simply due to modernization, the community has grown much bigger than something the family itself can handle.

I spoke with an Italian woman on this matter and she said how much she wished that it was possible for there to be a pleasant medium between the strength or weakness of the community and family. Each one has their own set of pros, whether it is in regards to the building of a better community or the strengthening of a cohesive family. However, each pro comes with a cost and it may not be possible to say which cost is more worth paying.

God commands both outcomes of us; a cohesive family and a strong community. Honor your father and mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself” Matthew 19:19. Finding the balance is important to God and should be important to us as well. I do not pretend to know the solution, but I can dream that it is possible for us to keep searching for it together. It is all too easy for those involved to slip into apathy over an issue that affects us all; but no matter how trivial or impossible a goal may be does not give us the right to cease to fight for it.