A peace in which members of the community are able to be very vulnerable. Are able to speak of the deepest parts of themselves. And in this peace, in this stage of true community, is deep healing. The father and the son in the story reached out to each other, hugged each other, laughed and cried together in a way they'd never been able to do before. And all the past hurts were healed.
Community building requires a lot of courage, and it begins in small ways.
It begins in families. Then it can move out to larger groups. To those churches where people dare to take the risk of being vulnerable, of showing their true feelings, even if those feelings involve anger or resentment or tears. Community can be experienced by groups of women, by groups of men, by groups of men and women together. Community can be experienced by people of one race, or by multi-national groups.