Community

Last night, I went to dinner with my daughter and Rachel B. We went to a restaurant I consider like a Cheers - you know like the song, "where everybody knows your name". We know most of the staff because they are teens that attend our church or have run in circles with my son or daughter. And while we were in the restaurant, some friends and their family came in to have dinner. It got me to thinking how cool it is to have the sense of community in such a large town. Yes, some can argue that I have that feeling because I am a native and have lived in the same place consecutively for the last 22 years. For at least 15 of those years, my children were very active in the athletic community and I met lots of people and made great friends. If you just moved here or have only been here for a short time, you may feel disconnected or not part of a community. Try attending church, joining a small group, and also getting involved in the community - a booster club, event for your child. Carson always teases me that every time I go anywhere with her, I run into someone that I know. Yes, it is a result of connecting in many areas of life. I know in a town like this it can be hard, and that is why the local church is so important. I do have friends in many circles, but it was when I have gone through some of the lowest times in my life, that my church has been the community that has helped me through (loss of job, death of family members). Our journey takes us across many paths and the cool part is that we get to experience life with the many people that come in and out of our lives. Hopefully, we make an impact on a spiritual level so eternity is the ultimate goal. God created us to be relational and we have relational needs that can only be met in community.

It makes me think of the quote by John Donne,

"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind..."

What are you thinking? Do you need to take that step toward building community in your life, especially now that culture is pulling us apart from each other more and more each day...