Skull Rowing

Eight men/women in a boat, all rowing together is a bonding experience like few things in sports.  Each person relies on one another to be the best the group can be.  No one person can "take over" as in a basketball game.  In football, the defense works out separate rom the offense, and the kickers and so on.  A few people can try very hard to win a game while others try a bit less.  In rowing, the eight are one.  Otherwise it does not work.  Thus a strong bond is built up among the eight.  Family farming might be a way to bond for the nuclear or extended family.  No one person can slacken, but no one can take over and do most of the work.  The farm will fail.  In cross country running, everyone of the five does the best they can, but also tries to help teammates, because the overall score of each placement at the finish decides which team wins.  Cross country is a team sport, not an individual sport.  I think a community with a spiritual focus can approach becoming a bonded group.  It is not about individual salvation, or competition to be the "holiest."  You help one another because you see yourselves as a group, not individual egos.  I think recovery groups bond better than churches.  You can see an individual become part of a group in recovery.  It is part of the recovery.  The loner ego does no good.  I do not see that in church groups.  I think that is why so many people who join churches still feel lonely and separate.  They think a common belief or common ritual will make them one, bonded with others.  Parking lot behavior tells me it does not happen.