Fr. Jose Kaimlett About a hundred children had gathered in an out-of-the-way church in Norway. Some had walked as much as 40 kilometers to get there, and some had never ever seen a church. The bishop himself, dressed in his robes, went over to talk with them. His very first ice-breaking question to them was, “What do we call this house in which we now are?” They all shouted with one voice: “A church.” “What do we use churches for?”Several hands went up. And a lad from Lapland said, “For upbuilding.” The bishop was happy with the answer and then pushed on, “If you say we come here for upbuilding, then what is it that we build up?” The lad had an answer on his fingertips, “We are supposed to build up the eternal life that is in our hearts.” In all his days the bishop had never heard an answer as good as that one. Even the teachers, whom he later approached, had no idea where the lad had gotten the idea. Nor could anyone find it in books. The bishop took that idea wherever he went.
– Bishop E. Berggrav
The young lad has a very clear and correct idea of what a community is. A community is a group of people who help one another to build up the eternal life that is in their hearts. We are a group of spiritual beings having a human experience, trying thereby to empower and enrich each other.
