The "Chain of Being"

With your volunteer community, take some time to reflect on the following quote from Dorothy Day:

We are communities in time and in a place, I know, but we are communities in faith, as well--and sometimes time can stop shadowing us.  Our lives are touched by those who lived centuries ago, and we hope that our lives will mean something to people who won't be alive until centuries from now.  It's a great "chain of being," someone once told me, and I think our job is to do the best we can to hold up our small segment of the chain.  That's one kind of localism, I guess, and one kind of politics--doing your utmost to keep that chain connected, unbroken. 

-Dorothy Day, from Dorothy Day, by Robert Coles (via Spiritual Literacy, by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)

In your journals, or in a group discussion, answer some of the following questions:

-In what ways do you see yourself, and your community, maintaining this "chain of being?"
-Name people from the past who continue to touch your life.  How?  Why?
Are they from the distant past, or recent past?
-In what ways do you think your life might tough people in the future?  In what ways do you hope your life might make a difference?

Be sure to also check out the Activity of the Week Archives  for other great ideas to use for community nights and/or personal reflection.