Adult Forum Reflection: Thinking and Being in Community
Thinking in community with fellow Christians and being in community with fellow Christians are two main blessings of the Adult Forum.
Thinking in Community
Hannah Arendt, a Jewish philosopher of the twentieth century who fled Nazi Germany and barely escaped France after the Germans invaded, attended the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961, who had been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Holocaust. Arendt observed that Eichmann was not a monster, but an ordinary person who was “thoughtless.” What she called the “banality of evil” is the condition of an ordinary person who lacks critical thinking and has lost an orientation to the world. Arendt observed in her other writings that modern mass societies suffer from loneliness and “worldlessness.” This is “worldlessness,” not “worldliness.”
I participate in the Adult Forum to avoid worldlessness by using common sense and critical thinking with others as we discuss the shared world we inhabit. Engaging in the conversations and discussions in the Adult Forum through the plural perspectives and opinions of the group where each individual says, “it seems to me that…” allows me to think and not become thoughtless. It grounds me in an orientation toward the world where I attempt to understand what the other person means by “it seems to me that…” Adult Forum is ordinary people using common sense (what Arendt calls the sixth sense) to form opinions about how to live in a shared world. But, not only do we live in a shared world, we also share belief in Christianity and Holy Scripture. What may be called “Christian common sense” can be used to think and discuss what it means to be a Christian in the world; it is a way not to be “worldless” or “thoughtless.”
Being in Community
Secondly, Adult Forum allows me to “be” an individual in community. My church has always been my family, including St. Anne’s. I grew up in a very dysfunctional family that I will spend the rest of my life recovering from. St. Anne’s, my family of choice, is the place to learn and experience what love, grace, support, friendship, and so much more look like in real life. Developing bonds of trust through respectful disagreement and discussing difficult issues helps me grow and become the person God wants me to be.
In conclusion, it is both thinking and being in Christian community that I find to be a blessing of St. Anne’s Adult Forum. I hope to continue to move towards being “thoughtful,” not “thoughtless,” living in a shared world, not living in “worldlessness,” and using Christian common sense with my St. Anne’s family to grapple with the issues of this historical time.
Jo Tetlow, Adult Forum