the importance of community…

This week I was lucky enough to experience something I don’t often get to appreciate on a day that I couldn’t have planned more perfectly! I was going through my normal morning routine when I noticed the sun rising outside. Just the steps of it glowing behind already lit-up buildings, to breaking its first burst of light, to being fully present outside my window made me realize that no matter what was going to happen that day, it would be good.

I had a packed day ahead of me, and I was unsure of how it was going to turn out. I was volunteering in a nearby high school for my education class and it was my first day. A, I was scared only because I didn’t know what to expect, and B, I was just plain excited. It ended up being a great start to my semester of volunteering! I got to help students out and observe a Spanish classroom with tips from the teacher. I loved it.

After that I was back on campus for my dance/movement therapy class only to find myself creating movement that correlated with how I felt for the day and also connecting with others’ movement in conjunction with a significant story from their life. I was constantly feeling this pull to other people and I just couldn’t get enough of it.

That night, I couldn’t have asked for a better ending. I attended a session on the marriage amendment and how to have meaningful and real conversations about it and possibly voting no. It taught me so much about the GLBT community and the real life connections people had with these people that were so connected by their love that nothing could separate them. After this session we had pause, and I just felt my day come together completely.

The reading at worship just happened to be when Paul writes to the Corinthians about the importance of community. For the body has many members… you know it. The part that stuck out to me though, was verse 26.  If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. It got me thinking about every little thing I had done that day, and who I had done it with. Nothing would’ve been so successful and perfect about my day if I didn’t have the communities I shared it with. So as we hear Paul’s words, I think it’s safe to say community affects us a lot every single day. Think about those you love and keep close to you, those who accept you, and those who are simply blessed about your simple presence in their life. Now go out and do that for someone else, and God’s kingdom can grow even bigger than it already is.

+Galatians 5:13-14

Megan Luken