Two articles this week in the international press, one about India and the other about Japan, brought home to me our essential need for connection and community, and the terrible things that result from the breakdown of sustaining community bonds. “Community” so often sounds esoteric, an intangible “good” that doesn’t mean much in real life. In fact, it has many real-life benefits, including better health and longer life as well as happiness. Its absence means all kinds of social and personal ills.