Green (sustainability) is all about respect: respect for the planet, respect for nature, respect for community and for one another. It is about emphasizing the quality rather than the quantity. At its core, Green Community is a collective commitment of the spirit. The first step toward improving the quality of life in Broad Ripple is to strengthen the Sense of Community and the first step toward this is to undergo a process of profound and honest soul-searching. Here is a passage taken in tact from the website of the Foundation for Community Encouragement (FCE).

"Community Building, as practiced in the context of FCE, is a group process where participants experience and practice communication skills that create the possibility for deep human connection. The process was first described by best-selling author, Dr. M. Scott Peck, in his book, The Different Drum. He presented further information in a later book, A World Waiting To Be Born.

Participants sit in a circle. Brief instruction is offered regarding the guidelines for interaction. Supported by two facilitators, the group begins to interact with persons speaking as they are moved to do so. The work of Community Building belongs to the group as a whole. The facilitators do not teach or provide answers. Their role is to pay attention to the group process and give helpful feedback to the group as it does its work. Generally, a group will cycle through four distinct stages. In the stage of pseudo-community, the group is characterized by polite interaction as individuals "test the waters" of relationship, operating on the assumption that group members have few differences that divide them.

As the group continues to talk, the previously unspoken differences begin to emerge. Typically, participants deal with the discomfort caused by the discovery of difference by seeking to "fix" others or to "convert" people to their point of view. In this stage, there is often limited listening, high emotional energy, and a significant level of frustration. This stage has been labeled chaos.

Groups regularly deal with the confusion of chaos by retreating to the stage of pseudo-community or by attempting to organize in some way. Neither of these avenues leads to a deep level of connection with others. A difficult, but effective way to transcend the barriers to relationship lies through emptiness. Emptying happens when individuals begin to notice what they are carrying within themselves that prevents them from being authentically present with the group and fully accepting others. As people begin to share what is real for them-personal experience of the present moment in the group, prejudices, stories of past pain or joy, unfulfilled expectations-group members begin to come together in a new way. In this stage, a group will often feel like it is dying but, in the painful struggle to let go of the barriers to relationship, there is opportunity for something new to emerge.

The process of emptying provides room for a group to receive the gift of Community. In this stage people experience a deep acceptance of others and find themselves accepted as well. Individuals come to know themselves and others in new ways. Differences still exist but they are transcended and celebrated rather than suppressed. The group is characterized by a sense of profound respect, appreciation and joy.

Each of these stages is part of healthy community. A group will not rest undisturbed in the fourth stage but continue to cycle through all the stages. A gift of this process is that people acquire skills to enable continued movement through the stages instead of being stuck in places of division. Community Building provides an opportunity for people to learn how to come together authentically and truthfully in ways that encourage wholeness in relationship."

This depth of interaction was nowhere present in our last town hall meeting - a meeting dominated by our deputy mayor, who appeared to me to be on a PR damage control mission. He agreed with everyone and everything and promised everything to everyone. It is time that Broad Ripple undertakes a serious effort of Community Building. We have a great resource in the Indianapolis Neighborhood Resource Center. Their experienced specialists can help us work through a process rooted in the Asset-Based Community Development philosophy that has the potential to unite us, the citizens of Broad Ripple, in building a truly nurturing and progressive community. Stay tuned. A New Day Is Dawning.