A Lesson From Single-Lane Scottish Roads & Stanley Hauerwas On Community

note: pictured above – a single-lane road on the Isle of Mull

Two of my favorite authors – Jean Vanier and Stanley Hauerwas – collaborated on a book together: Living Gently in a Violent World—The Prophetic Witness of Weakness. While talking about the need for community, Hauerwas says…

I love the Isle of Mull in Scotland—for one, it is beautiful. But I also love the roads on Mull. They are all single-lane with a pullover about every five hundred yards. Driving on those roads is a constant negotiation; you see a car coming and you have to make a judgment about who should pull off first.

 

To drive on Mull requires constant cooperative trust.

stanley hauerwas

I think it makes a difference for the whole community. If you stay on Mull for a while, you discover that everybody knows one another. They have a sense of one another’s strengths and weaknesses.

That’s exactly what we try to plan out of our lives today—that kind of cooperative relationship.

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living gently in a violent world BOOK

I am a husband, father, pastor, leader & reader. I love God, love people & love life.

2 Comments to A Lesson From Single-Lane Scottish Roads & Stanley Hauerwas On Community

  1. Louise Hoy

    The weakness referenced in this excerpt sounds quite different than what we would assume from our culture. I have not yet read the book, but I wonder if it’s akin to the word “meek” as used in the Bible…

  2. Tina/@teenbug

    I’m sold based on the title of the book!

    Living gently in a violent world. Wow. #signmeup

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