Life is community is so beautiful. Life in community is so hard.
There is so much I love about living in community with others. There is so much joy in walking with others through the highs and the lows of life. Community makes us stronger, reminds us that we are not alone, and helps us to see the ways God works in our lives both individually and collectively.
Jesus tells his followers that where two or more are gathered surely, that is where we find God,* yet he doesn’t shy away from the fact that disagreements and conflict arise when two or more are gathered.
As humans walking through life together, we know what it is like to experience the joys and struggles of community. As humans, we often make mistakes and hurt one another intentionally or by accident. We often want different things and more often than not, think we have the correct answer, the correct opinion, the correct belief.
This text reminds us that life together is not going to be easy, but we have the opportunity to come to one another to share our pain and our hurt, even at the hands of another person in community. It is a reminder of the ways that the triune God calls us together in the midst of disagreement and struggle, and the ways God appears among us: in joyous times and in hardship.
After all, life is community is so beautiful. Life in community is so hard.
–Lindsay Fertig-Johnson, The Festival Center
For more…
- A Blessing for Those Who Care About Strangers by Kate Bowler
- Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
