Community
Matthew 18:19-20 –
Again, I truly tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they as 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.
I read a brilliant quote from Jen Hatmaker recently that said “I am in the parking lot waiting for you (her son), since Covid is the enemy of waiting moms who cannot be in the waiting room”
Reading that hit me HARD! How true? My kids take dance classes and swimming lessons outside of school and all of the “Covid secure” rules mean that I can’t wait for them inside whilst they have their classes. I can’t sit with the parents who I’ve struck up relationships with, I can’t catch up with my friends in the usual way. I’m either stood outside my car, yelling at someone 2m away or I’m stuck inside the car when it’s raining!
Let’s take this thought further - Covid has stripped us of community. We can’t meet together at church as we once did, we can’t gather with people in our homes, wedding invites have been retracted, baby showers cancelled - I could go on.
I am someone who is an introvert. My energy comes from spending time alone, I love being alone (possibly too much) but once I’ve had that time alone I’m fuelled up and ready for a good ol’ gathering with my friends and family.
In our immediate family from January through to the end of March there are 7 possibly 8 (forgive me, nieces and nephews if I forgot yours) birthdays. We meet almost every weekend for a party. Whoever has their birthday gets to choose what’s on the menu and we each bring a dish and a drink, the party lights go on, the music comes on and we have a brilliant night. Already, I’m beginning to mourn the loss of those gatherings, the thought that Christmas may not be what it should be - all of us gathered around a table, talking over one another.
We are careful to teach our children that they are extremely blessed to have all of these wonderful people in their lives. That many, many people in our town, city and world just don’t have community in the way that we do. Covid has pushed the isolated even more into isolation than they were before.
The Bible is very clear in its instructions to us to look after the “widows and the orphans”
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…” James 1.27
When lockdown restrictions first came into being at the end of March 2020, communities began to look out for one another: calling on elderly neighbours to do their shopping, fetching prescriptions and checking they were ok. People stepped in to help one another in a way that I had not seen before.
As the restrictions continue it’s so important that we don’t stop creating community with one another. Genesis 2.18 says “It is not good for the man to be alone”. We need one another now more than ever.
Lord Jesus, we miss our friends and family but we recognise that we are blessed to have them in our lives. Help us to look around us and see those that are lonely and isolated. Give us ideas of how we can create community for people that aren’t part of one. Help us daily to look beyond ourselves.