The way of community

“I still think that the only solution is the land, and community, a community which is unjudging and which forgives ‘seventy times seven,’ as Jesus Christ said. We who think in terms of community at least have the assurance, the conviction, that we are on the right path, going in the right direction, taking the right means to achieve the goal of increased love of God through an increased and proven love of our brothers. So many in these days have taken violent steps to gain the things in this world — war to achieve peace; coercion to achieve freedom; striving to gain what slips through the fingers. We might as well give up our greatest desires, at least our hopes of doing great things toward achieving them, right at the beginning. In a way it is like that paradox of the gospel, of giving up one’s life in order to save it.” — Dorothy Day, from The Reckless Way of Love