‘The Ideal Community’

According to Webster’s Dictionary, a community is: “A group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society.” What does that mean? It’s confusing thinking about a community as a whole, just like an engine may be difficult to comprehend when viewed from the hood of a car.

However, when inspected up close, a community, like an engine, comes into focus when seen in its parts. To understand the ideal community, I compared it to the best parts of my family.

Laughter is a central part of my family. My brother makes funny faces when others are angry or upset. It eases our temper and raises our spirits.

Likewise, my dad makes funny jokes to make me happy when I’m sad. He also does it at random times just to be funny. Laughter also is important to a well run community. Community members should not be serious with each other all the time. In my school community, my teacher jokes with us to make us happy and school more fun. On my mission field trip last year, one of the parents joked throughout the trip. Everyone laughed and enjoyed themselves. I can’t imagine a community without the joy of laughter.

No family runs without love. Our family shows love by paying attention to one another’s needs. For example, every night my mom or dad reads books to my brother and me. My mom makes homemade bread because she knows that we love eating it. In the morning, I pack water bottles for both my brother and myself.

We always are looking out for each other. Communities need to do the same. At school, our chef Miss Peek, brings ice to students randomly in the afternoons. She knows that we like chomping on it and doesn’t mind getting it for us.

In every sport I play, my coaches pay special attention to the needs of all of the participants.

Coach Pam will sometimes open up the diving board at swim team practice because she knows that we need a break. Coach Rubin, my ju-jitsu instructor, adds games to the class to make it fun for everyone.

Communities are doomed to failure without love.

If love is the oil of a family, structure and rules are the spark plugs.

Without structure, families wouldn’t work. In my house, my brother and I flush the toilet, but often forget to put the seat down. When my mom or dad saw an open toilet bowl, they made us pay $5. This didn’t work. I continued to forget the seat and my dad continued to harp on me about it.

Eventually the $5 plan went away and a week ago, my mom made up a new toilet seat plan. This time, my brother and I had to clean the toilets if we left the seat up. I have never left a seat up since. My mom and dad are constantly keeping my brother and me in check and making sure we act like behaved kids.

Communities, too, need structure and rules. Police, principals, teachers, and one’s conscience help keep people in line.

Imagine a school, a town, anything, without law. Everything would go haywire. If Mrs. Torrance announced that Round Valley School would no longer ask kids to follow school rules or directions, kids may do flips off of the monkey bars, food might fly across the cafeteria, nobody would do their school work or homework, and the bus would be CRAZY!

Both families and communities need more than just love, they need discipline.

It is important to zoom into a community to truly understand it. Also important, is making sure its parts are working as expected. No one wants a clunky, rickety, rackety, limping along engine. The roar of a finely tuned Porsche is what we all crave.

Take community in for a check up periodically and make sure it is tuned with laughter, love, and structure.