On the other hand, as members of a community we are always
contributing something to its life--either to its advantage or
disadvantage. Of course, each of us is only one of a great many
members in a large community, and we may seem to be very
unimportant. But each performs his part, whether it be great or
small, and whether he does it well or poorly.

CITIZENSHIP MEANS MEMBERSHIP

Now we often speak of members of a community as CITIZENS of that
community. CITIZENSHIP means practically the same thing as
membership in the community. As a good community is one that
provides well for its members, so the good citizen is the member
who does well his part in the life of the community. A bad citizen
is the member who hinders the progress of the community when he
might be helping. A citizen has certain RIGHTS and certain DUTIES.
His rights are what the community owes him; his duties are what he
owes the community.

TRAINED AND UNTRAINED CITIZENS

There are many members of communities who are like the diseased or
paralyzed hand, or like the hand that is untrained. A member of an
athletic team who does not "train" will probably be dropped from
the team--he fails to become an athlete. A member of a community,
or a citizen, who does not "train" still remains a member, but an
inefficient one. He is a handicap to his community and interferes
with community team work. The part that a member plays in
community life may be more important than he realizes. Even in
small things, "the falling short of one may mean disaster to