Reflections on Community

Tonight, I went to a meeting with a group of women who love the Lord, love our husbands and earnestly seek to grow as disciples. We meet twice a month, we usually have a topic, but, we are so comfortable with one another, we are willing to go wherever the Spirit leads us. This is what community is to me, it is when two or more are gathered and we are able to lift each others burdens and share each others joys. Being in community means we have a connection, be it intentional or accidental, we share a connection which creates a relationship. We listen to each other, we offer advice, we offer prayer, we share the wisdom God has revealed to us. But, as I have been a part of this particular group of women for a year now, I have come to appreciate the community that is developing between us. A year ago, she might have been just another woman I passed at the supermarket, but now, we have a relationship, we are intimately connected with each other's lives. We have become soul sisters.

Tonight, we shared the burdens of our hearts around the circle, some burdens seemed familiar to my own life, others were unique but I cared about them all. This is another aspect of community, when the parties involved genuinely care about the others circumstances. When each of us had finished sharing our prayer requests we bowed our heads to pray. We had spent about an hour sharing our innermost thoughts with one another and then we were silent. This group of women, sitting in a circle, was just quiet for a few moments, no one had asked us to be quiet, we just did it naturally and it was in that quiet space that I felt the presence of the Holy Spirit among us. I felt connected with the women around me in a spiritual way. In many situations in our lives, silence can be awkward. Silence in a conversation, silence during worship, a pause during a speech has always seemed awkward to me. But, I have learned, when you have built a caring community, the pregnant pauses, or holy sighs are the times when our hearts speak to God on behalf of one another because any words we use seem so inadequate. The silence is not awkward, because instead of being moments that are missing sound, they become moments that are filled by the Holy Spirit. God has shown me that in the very act of sharing our troubles and worries with other Christians, we are praying. I do not have to bow my head, close my eyes, and use words to convey to God my needs.

As my life has become more and more busy, more noise fills my days. The tv, the radio, the cell phone all beg for my attention. Time is an investment, it is the most precious thing I have, and I am learning to give some of my time to the joy of nothingness. Those moments of nothing, where there is nothing filling my head but thoughts of God. When I pause to hear myself breathe, I am reminded to be thankful for my breath. When I pause to listen, I hear the bird sing a song to the new day. When I stop and turn off the sound, I turn on that still small voice that says, "Be still and know that I am God." I have learned to look for silence, to wait for it and to relish the way the silence fills my soul. But, my greatest lesson is to know that when you have found a true community, a group of like-minded friends, a place where you have built strong relationships, the true gift is not in what you say, the gift is in being together, being present in each other's moments. I can not be everywhere all of the time, but I promise when I am with you, I will be present.