Let’s see, talk about myself here huh? Well, I don’t know if you can REALLY know someone unless you live in community with them… I was pondering this just this morning because I have been hearing people say things like, “I’ve ‘known’ you for this many years and I didn’t know that about you” and things like, “I didn’t know he was struggling, every time we talked he seemed fine.” There is something to this, I really think that we can only show a side of ourselves that is surface, and I don’t mean “Fake” it’s just surface, people are so complex and our lives are so multi-faceted and our private worlds sometimes too secretive that all we can ever show is what is right and acceptable for the context we find ourselves in. I think that it’s not until we walk with each other in play, work, struggles, joys, and faith that we can dive into real community relationships…well, that’s what I think, this has been my experience both personally and through my short observation of human life. I think community is built around the multi-facets, where you see one another in their weaknesses, where we disagree on ice cream and movies, where we play and laugh together only to see that streak of competitiveness and how we lose to one another, or how we win, or how we just play without care to win or lose. Where how you respond to winning, losing, and playing urkes someone. It’s the little things sometimes, how you treat your spouse or your kids in public and in private, with strangers and with friends. It’s how you like your eggs, or what your pet peeves are. It’s the things that make you feel insecure and overwhelmed…your limits and what that looks like when you get there. That uncomfortable silence that whispers, “I didn’t know this about you.” I just find it remarkable how long we can live surface lives and not know it till one day someone you thought you knew wakes up one day and realizes they have no friends, no hope, no help, no faith… I think this is the place where you can make deep & hurtful mistakes and still find forgiveness…hopefully…I’ve seen the outcome of both forgiveness and the lack thereof, it’s interesting really…it’s letting people know you enough to hurt you, and paining over lost relationships…only to experience that forgiveness alone brings what was lost into deep community…it powerful stuff…unfortunately…rare. Community in my young opinion of the matter is where faith is worked out and practiced…it’s messy business to be sure…and it’s worth is desperately priceless… The only way to really Know someone is through community, that’s all I have to say about that…
