LP's LampPost

I'm not very far into this blogging adventure and yet several of the entries have, at least, touched on the problems inherent in groups.  We exist in groups all the time and some are more pleasant than others.  We choose close friends, in part, because of the agreement we have on various issues and the comfort we feel in their presence.  On the other end, most of us have experienced the feeling illustrated in job placement services' commercials :  being the only sane human in a room full of barely trained monkeys.  All to ooften this feeling is at a job we don't feel we can afford to lose and are, therefore, trapped.   Our feelings about our church usually fall somewhere in between these two extremes.  When other church members (or pastors!) seem closer to the barely trained monkeys, some wonder, "Why do I put up with this?" Over the years, many have protested that we don't need church.  "My relationship with Jesus is personal so Jesus and ...

"No man is an island."  So says John Donne in Meditation 17 and experience proves him correct.  We exist in groups.  The most introverted among us still have a select few that we invest in and are deeply connected with.  Donne proposed a universal bond among humans that some have and will continue to debate but, for today, it is enough to say that no one exists entirely alone.  As a result, a tremendous amount of our time and effort is invested in one relationship or another.  The success of facebook, texting, and various other social functions is ample evidence. As a previous post mentioned, conflict is an inevitable function of groups.  One exception would be the situation addressed by a quote my son shared with me this weekend.  "If everyone is thinking alike, then no one is thinking."  Maybe we could adjust that to "only one is thinking."  Not all conflict is the emotionally charged variety however.  Several times in a day, a...