Block’s book begins with the premise that we are defined by the story we tell. What we think and say is what we become. Block asks us to explore our narrative in a proactive stance, not by what is wrong with ours or others’ stories, but by what is possible. He questions how we can manifest our positive (sometimes hidden) qualities or gifts. This exploration or transformation from scarcity to abundance, Block claims, is most effectively done in the context of community. It seems that much of American culture values transformation as an individual quest and outcome. Block challenges us from his opening thought that our “. . . essential challenge is to transform the isolation and self –interest within our communities into connectedness and caring for the whole.” (Block, p 1). To do this we begin by 1) shifting our attention form the problem to the possibility. 2) Admitting we need more wisdom than we individually process – we need the wisdom of the group and 3) realizing and building the value of social capital.
Block believes that communities come together and experience restoration when we ask, “what can we create together” (p. 47). He reminds us that this takes courage and engagement. Lupton (2011), in his book, Toxic Charity, makes a similar case, that, in some forms of service providing, without having those we help as part of the dialogue and present at the table, we are actually perpetuating our models of oppression and hindering people’s potential and opportunities. Block defines community as a group gathered around “a declaration of the future that we choose to live in”(p. 48).
Block, P. (2008). Community: the structure of belonging. San Francisco: Bennet-
Koehler Publications.
Lupton, R. (2011). Toxic charity: how churches and charities hurt those they help
New York, NY: HarperCollins.