Last night, we went Uptown (Charlotte’s name for downtown) for a nice dinner and a concert. As we approached the city, we saw the high rises lit up across the night sky in red, white, and blue reflecting solidarity with France. It was not lost on me that here as we go about our lives in a similar fashion to those last Friday night in the streets of Paris, a community is now grieving and life will go on but never be quite the same. That simple gesture of lighting our buildings or the many Facebook posts or lighting candles in makeshift memorials is a way to say, “We are a community, a global community. Our humanity binds us.” In simple terms, we are showing light in the darkness and compassion and empathy for the loss.
And as Americans, we remember the grief associated with 9-11. The tragedy binds us to France in many ways. It strikes me how important this sense of understanding and concern is not only in the large scale tragedies but the pain and struggle that occur in our lives every day. As life goes on around you during a peiod that could be characterized as a dark night of the soul, seeing a sign of solidarity like lights against the dark sky brings connection. It alleviates isolation and brings community. And, it can bring hope to the broken hearted.
This concept of community has been on my mind in part because some of my communities are in transition. Those built on the softball field and your children’s friends shift when the children leave home. We certainly get to choose our communities and some of that comes naturally. But I do believe God gives us opportunities to engage with new communities- new neighbors. Sometimes those communities are not ones that we might naturally choose. Sometimes, we are thrust into communities because of our circumstances.
We are called to love our neighbors. Our “neighbors” is not a narrow definition of those who fit nicely in our close communities. When Christ was asked, “who is your neighbor?” He told a story of a man on the roadside who had been robbed, stripped and beaten. He was passed by those who should have been more likely to reach out and care for this man. Those in his community. Instead, they passed on the other side. Then along came an unlikely man who took pity on this victim and in a merciful way cared for this man in his pain. The Good Samaritan’s example demonstrates what it means to live out the call to love our neighbors. He was thrust in community with this bruised and battered man and showed him love. Love shown even when these two humans would not have been a natural community.
Looking at this from all sides, the injured, those who avoided and the one that loved, I can relate to all of it. There have certainly been times when life left me feeling battered and left on the side of the road. I have felt relief and gratitude when someone saw my pain and attended to my needs. Haven’t you had those days, when someone reached out to help and you felt a human touch of grace? God extends his grace, mercy, and love through others. I am also sad to say that there have been moments in my life when I have seen someone in need. And although I am called to love, I have stepped to the other side. It may have been a person who would not ordinarily have been in my life. Perhaps, I didn’t open my heart to this person whom God placed on my path that day, maybe I felt ill-equipped to deal with the issue, or overwhelmed or distracted by other responsibilities. Whatever the reason, I missed my call to love my neighbor. I am certainly saddened by that. Lastly, there have been moments when I heeded the call to reach out and care for another. And as I am sure you have experienced, I was given far more than I gave. That is the miracle that plays out each time we adhere to the call. Someone feels loved and cared for and someone feels humbled and blessed. We are connected in our humanity but more importantly we are connected through God’s love. We are all left with more hope than we started with.
One of my personal communities is Alanon. Alanon is built on the premise of providing a safe space for people who have a common bond of living or loving someone who has an addiction to come together to share their strength, hope and experience. During the past 3 months, I have not attended my Saturday meeting. Largely because of my schedule, family needs, illness, but there have been some opportunities to go when I chose to stay home. The reality is that there are pressures, concerns, and stressors in all aspects of my life. No big crisis but no easy space either. And so, it takes its toll. And, I have withdrawn. At a time that I felt a bit battered and needed that support, I did not go or reach out. Yesterday, as I returned to my meeting, I acknowledged that my absence was due in part to a need to hunker down and draw in tight. A couple of people came up to me afterwards letting me know that they understood the human need to isolate but were glad that I was back. The word isolate has hung in my mind. Isolation, unless it refers to a communicable disease, is not a positive way to deal with struggles. It in fact increases anxiety or depression. I just saw today a friend post a message begging people who are struggling with depression to reach out for help after attending a young man’s memorial service. I see isolation all the time with family members who are struggling with the addiction of their loved one. Their isolation grows, struggles are hidden in the dark and their pain grows. So, I encourage those who feel isolated to reach out but i understand how difficult that can be. I encourage who see someone who is isolated to also step forward and reach out.
You see- we were made for relationship. We were made to thrive in communities rooted in faith and love. We were made to gain strength through the power of God’s healing as his love, grace and mercy is made real through others. Christ came to this earth for our salvation. His human manifestation also gave us a picture of love demonstrated here on this earth. He then left us here with the call to love our neighbors. He told us that those who are poor in spirit and mourn are blessed and will be comforted. He also says that merciful will be shown mercy. We are connected through our relationships and through God’s love.
I encourage you today to think about your communities. In your struggles, do you isolate yourself? If so, why? Do you need to find a safe place of understanding and support? Are you afraid to show your weakness? Are you conscious of who God is placing in your life and the potential new communities that surround you?
We live in a broken world that needs healing. We experience darkness and need the light. We falter under the weight of our burdens and need mercy. But, we have hope. For those today who are experiencing the dark night of the soul, hang on to the fact that there is nothing too broken that can’t be healed. Darkness cannot overcome light. Christ promised that he will provide rest for those who are burdened and weary. Reach out to your communities. You can be blessed if you open yourself up to be loved.
God can use any one of us to love the hurting. We are not to be overcome by the pain and the evil of this world. We are to overcome that pain and evil through love and goodness. God will offer us opportunities within our communities to do just that. But it starts one interaction at a time, one community at a time, and one day at a time. For me, I guess my prayer is to open my eyes to see who God places in my path, open my hands to reach out to help carry the burden, and open my heart to connect with their need and show love. Perhaps, there will be those reading this who will join me. Doing that might just be that light against the backdrop of dark sky that says to a hurting person, “you are my community connected through our humanity but strengthened through the love and power of Christ.” And that brings hope to the hurting.
So, today I will pray for healing in France and for a world where we can experience God's grace in our communities.
