Dear Friends,
What does the word “community” mean? Scripture grapples with this from the first chapter of Genesis until the last chapter of the Book of the Revelation to John.
It is a question at the heart of our nation, at the center of our world. Wars everywhere arise around this question. Whether in Ukraine or Gaza or the Sudan or Denver, Colorado or Springfield, Ohio.
This week there was an op-ed in the New York Times this week entitled “Us and Them Is All the Rage.”
Many of the conversations I have had in the congregation and I have overheard in the congregation are really questions about community.
This week there was a gathering at a private club in Washington, DC a friend of mine attended. Two people rose to speak together. One was Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State under President George W. Bush and the other was Elena Kagan, who was nominated by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court.
Condoleezza said essentially [my friend telling me this]: “Here’s my background. Here’s how my people arrived in this country.” And then Elena Kagan spoke: “Here’s my background. Here’s how my people arrived in this country.” “Here’s who we are now. This is a country of immigrants, this is why the Statue of Liberty has written on it, what is written on it.”
They were talking, from different sides of the political aisle, about community.
This week, a beautiful thing happened after worship. One of our Illuminators, Travis, came to me and said, “my friends [other folks who live on the street] and I would like to do the Heartfelt Cafe meal for February, would that be alright?” What a beautiful, extraordinary expression of community!
Churches like to say “it is better to give than to receive.” A friend of mine likes to say: “then why are we hoarding all the giving/blessing to ourselves?” Blessings on Travis and those who are giving us the chance to be receivers.
Yet, there are attacks on community as well. When attacks are made on trans people serving in the military, restricting freedoms, it fractures community, rather than build/heals/strengthens community.
Fracturing community has the opposite effect, in fact, it has serious consequences on the lives of people within community and on community itself. I was struck by the report from the Journal of the American Medical Association, how after the same sex marriage ban was struck down by the Supreme Court, suicide rates went down for LGBTQIA+ adolescents (around 143,000 fewer suicides per year in the US).
Growing community, strengthening community makes us healthier, safer, stronger as a people. After the massacre at the King Soopers there were #BoulderStrong signs everywhere in the city and on social media. Attacks on community remind us of the importance of community, of the strength in community.
I read a book by Rebecca Solnit entitled “A Paradise Built in Hell” reading historical documents from times like the San Francisco Earthquake over 100 years ago. She writes about the sense of community (nearly euphoric) arising from times of great distress – as people come together to support one another.
When we gather on Sunday morning, we are working on keeping the muscles of community from atrophying. How? By greeting one another, by getting to know one another, by singing together, by listening to one another, praying for one another, encouraging one another.
Community is a gift. Let’s enjoy it. Together.
Keep tellin’ the Story,
Mike
Enjoy this version of Sly Stone’s Every Day People, celebrating community.