Beautiful Music Only Happens When Community Happens

There are three things that I absolutely love. Aside from my love for God, my family, and friends, there are three things that I talk about. A lot. Those three things? Soccer, music, and art. People who know me always fall prey to my ranting about these three things and I'm quite surprised no one has told me to keep my trap shut about them yet. Now, I have played soccer and done track and field, I have had some formal training in music and art, so I have experienced a little bit of the community that surrounds these walks of life. Community is huge, it is beautiful when it is done right, and it is absolutely necessary.

I love the soccer community, I really do. I've only been to two international "friendly" games (basically, scrimmages for international teams), but I've watched European club games and important international games on the television and to hear the chanting and the songs being sung (and I can imagine the insults and cursings being flung at the opposing team) and people hugging each other and waving banners and screaming until their voices go hoarse when their teams score, I see something beautiful, I see community.
In the summer of 2008, one of the biggest tournaments in European soccer happened:

The UEFA - EURO 2008



(Now, I know all of you American football watching men are all yawning at the thought of soccer, but this stuff is amazing!! 3 billion + followers can't be wrong.)

The Sunday of the Final, my twin brother and I went a local Italian restaurant, Saggio's, which is the place to go for all major televised sporting events like this. We were there about an hour before the game started just so we could get a seat, otherwise we'd be standing the entire 90+ minute game. And the community we experienced with other soccer lovers of all ethnic and linguistic backgrounds! Basically, it was amazing.

The video I posted, I feel, speaks clearly how community should be: cooperative, willing, sometimes free-wheeling. There are some people that are extremely easy to work with, to talk with, to "be in community" with, whatever that means. People that are approachable no matter what and that are able to approach you no matter what (I'm not sure if I'm one of those people). There are also people that are extremely hard to work with, hard to talk to, are un-approachable, and repell people like a skunk does he walks through a campground.

As Eric Cantona says in the video, "You can only make beautiful music if you know how to play in an orquestra."

To create a good, functioning community, people need to know how to work together, support each other, use their talents and abilities not only for themselves, but for everyone around them.