welcome to the story.

On Community I know Anna will be happy. Because I'm actually devoting a whole post to a quote of her post. She has said something better than I could say it or any pastor or teacher for that matter. She has said it well. And I won't add to it. ___________________________________________________________________________________ More and more I'm realizing the value of community. I've talked about it for a long time. Now I think I'm starting to live it. Rubbing elbows with people utterly different, yet shockingly similar from you really is the kingdom of God. I don't understand the words used all the time. I surely don't grasp all of the concepts, but it's nice to be on the fringes. Rob Bell said in Velvet Elvis, "Sometimes a majority of learning is done by eavesdropping." That's me. I'm the one just listening in on the conversation, not really adding much, but enjoying the dialogue. And I'm learning a lot. I'm not learning about menasticism (sp?), but I'm learning that I don't have to really understand it. Eventually I'll come to appreciate the knowledge, and I'm somewhat eager to learn it, but all I know is I want to be in community. That's where I'll learn. That's where I'll grow. That's where real issues are rubbed out. Fleshed out. Not perfectly communicated, just brought to the table and thrown around. To me, that's beauty. That's worth. That's the amazing gift of community. Long ago I learned that my greatest words to God were my groanings. The sighs, the screams (mostly internal), the puffs. The la la's in songs are my absolute favorite. I used to not understand the point. Now I know that the la la's say more than all of the eloquent words that surround them. All this has been inspired by the events of the last few weeks. Dinners at pubs with old friends. Laughing on a nightly basis with two new great and wonderful friends. Bedside chats with my lifelong best friend. Fireside discussions with those closest to us. "Pillow talk" with my new husband. Honeymoon fun with new friends from Wisconsin. Even long distance phone calls with the people I feel are in the next room. God intended community. I feel like that's why we have emotion. That's why we have desire to know other people. And I want to live the rest of my life in community.