Belonging...

Community is a strange concept. It’s something we all crave for but few of us experience in its purest form. Many of us talk a good theology of it, but in practice? That’s another story all together. Part of the problem with the lack of complete community is that we, as individuals, usually gravitate toward people who are like us, and shy away from those who are different.

There is a good reason for this. As humans we have inherited an innate fear of difference.
Belonging is an essential component to living “life in all its fullness”, but so often this is marginalised and corrupted by our incessant (though quite natural) desire to belong to groups who are like-minded.

To paraphrase the wonderful Adrain Plass, there are days when I worry and am confused about the Church (about community)- maybe even a little frightened at times, but as we sit in the darkness, i know in my heart of hearts that the church will be alright in the end.

Because there will be people who when the tongues have stopped, and the prophesies have ended, and the kangaroo-hopping has come to a stand still, and the religious posing and posturing fools no-one anymore, will still be ready to share the burdens of the little people who are close to them.

We are one but not the same…….

A legend tells how, at the beginning of time, God resolved to hide himself within his own creation. As God was wondering how best to do this, the angels gathered round him.
‘I want to hide myself in my creation,’ he told them. ‘I need to find a place that is not too easily discovered, for it is in their search for me that my creatures will grow in spirit and in understanding.’
‘Why don’t you hide yourself deep in the earth?’ the first angel suggested. God pondered for a while, then replied, ‘No. it will not be long before they learn how to mine the earth and discover all the treasures that it contains. They will discover me too quickly, and they will not have had enough time to do their growing.’
‘Why don’t you hide yourself on their moon?’ a second angel suggested. God thought about this idea for a while, and then replied, ‘No. It will take a little longer, but before too long they will learn how to fly through space. They will arrive on the moon and explore its secrets, and they will discover me too soon, before they have had time to do their growing.
The angels were at a loss to know what hiding places to suggest. There was a long silence.
‘I know,’ piped up one angel, finally. ‘Why don’t you hide yourself within their own hearts? They will never think of looking for you there!’
‘That’s it!’ said God, delighted to have found the perfect hiding place. And so it is that God hides secretly deep within the heart of every creature, until that creature is wiling to risk the journey into the secret core of its own being. And there, the creature discovers its creator….