Thought for the Week: The greatest of poverties

Mother Teresa said that loneliness was the greatest of poverties.
What then is the ideal, the flip-side to loneliness, that would inspire us act?

One answer for us would be the power of Ethos. Ethos is the character or spirit of culture that underlies the beliefs and behavours of groups of people. Ethos can be crafted. Its takes time, but once it begins, it starts to  fill the spaces between the spoken and unspoken. Ethos comes into existence when community is formed, and true community cannot exist if individuals are isolated.

So then, the flip-side to loneliness? -  Its the feeling of belonging to something greater than yourself that swells the chest; it gives you the audaciousness to engage in the unknown, knowing that when you step out, you never do it alone. When the sense of belonging is bonded with shared-belief, groups of people become something much greater then the sum of it individual parts. The third entity of community is created.When the desire for people to feel included begins to shape your ethos extraordinary things can start to happen.

But are these feelings just fluff or is this a truism? I think the latter and I don’t think its just me.

One giant leap of faith is easy
When everyone you ask is so sure

  Grazed Knees - Snow Patrol