Community
There is a case to be made that, since the advent of Facebook and our “friends” pages, the concept of real-life fellowship and tactile relationships has changed for the worse. Who does inhabit our world? Where is true community to be found in the digital age?
We were created for relationship. Our relationship with God is mirrored in corresponding relationships with family and friendships that fulfill our lives. God exists in a community of three: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We reflect God’s image, we are the image of God (Imago Dei), and connect with one another in life-giving relationship.
Friendships are the soil in which character and service are built. It is in these unions that we play out the will of God and make sacrificial commitment for the good of others, real and efficacious. We learn forgiveness, long-suffering, joy, empathy and love in community. Our gift of listening allows someone else to plumb the depths of their experience and make sense of their life. We are a lifeline to the lost and those bereft of hope.
There are special transformational folk who become soul friends. This is the person who personifies the “anamcara” - the Gaelic word for “soul’ anam, and “friend” cara - that person who can share our innermost selves, our mind and our heart. These relationships form a place of safety and are reciprocal and necessary to grow and flourish. They are rare and even more rarely assumed to be possible. Their goal is to assist and guide us into a deeper relationship with Christ.
Christian community assumes the presence of the body of Christ, a gathering of people who walk with us to celebrate and enjoy the presence of Jesus, and to walk together with him practicing love in all of its manifestations. It must become real with a few who become our companions in growth and enjoyment of the fruits of God’s kingdom in our everyday life.
Over a cup of coffee, on a long walk, even a zoom call, we share in the exigencies of life - we are there for each other in ways that can only be experienced through the gift of time and intentional friendship.
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”