Interesting discussion on a different thread about HAPPINESS. It reminded me of one of my favorite books The Careless Society: Community and Its Counterfeits that turned me into a progressive/liberal who doesnt like many government programs. My experiences in nonprofit organizations and the social service industry had an impact of course. (This is similar to me being a financial services professional who doesnt like the financial services industry.) Familiarity breads contempt, I suppose. One of my favorite pieces of writing of all time is the final Chapter -- on Christian Service -- oddly enough. ----Heres a reviewers summary--- McKnight closes with an interesting reflection on Christianity, which has provided such an impulse for service. Would Christ approve of today’s institutionalization of service, asks McKnight? Not if Christ saw “help becoming control, care becoming commercialized, and cure becoming immobilizing.” Rather, McKnight argues, the highest expression of service is people helping people. Ultimately, he argues, we should seek not to be servants, but friends, which Christ proclaimed his disciples to be during the Last Supper. As McKnight so nicely concludes a powerful, though at times flawed, book: “In our time, professionalized servants are people who are limited by the unknowing friendlessness of their help. Friends, on the other hand, are people liberated by the possibilities of knowing how to help each other.” ---------You can read pages 176-179 of this powerful chapter at the link below ------ Im wondering if anyone else has read this book? Sarah Angel - Pauline Guerin - Dana Martin It made me think of our discussions. Great reading material for idealist college kids who want to save the world. https://books.google/books?id=86hceYOU2DQC&lpg=PA178&ots=mJfx5W7h-e&dq=the%20careless%20community%20christ&pg=PA173#v=onepage&q=the%20careless%20community%20christ&f=false
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 03:42:12 +0000
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