Life Together

Over the past couple years, I've formed an addiction. An addiction to community. This doesn't sound like a bad thing, but sometimes it can be pretty detrimental. There are points at which I can't even do my homework for fear that all those I love are out experiencing life together without me. So maybe it's not an addiction to community, but a fear of being left alone. I'm desperate for interaction.

I read Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer today. And he addressed this in (guess what) the very first chapter. He dedicates several pages to this idea of a human craving for interaction. And, as I had just been struggling with whether or not to get my reading done or go interact with people, my ears perked up. I'm pretty sure God was saying, "Deb, you really need to listen up." So I buckled my spiritual seatbelt and knew I was in for another lesson.

Reality check #1 - "Within the spiritual community there is never, nor in any way, any 'immediate' relationship of one to another, whereas human community expresses a profound, elemental, human desire for community, for immediate contact with other human souls..."
As much as I crave interaction, simply human contact will never fulfill my desire for relationships. Over and above everything, my relationship with the Godhead is the only way I can connect with other people.

Reality check #2 - Human love vs. spiritual love: "Human love has little regard for truth. It makes the truth relative, since nothing, not even the truth, must come between it and the beloved person. Human love desires the other person, his company, his answering love, but it does not serve him. On the contrary, it continues to desire even when it seems to be serving." This made me stop and think. Over and over again I have loved only with a human love. And I delude myself into thinking I am serving and truly loving, but I realize now that my actions were only coming from a desire to be desired. True love doesn't work this way.

Reality check #3 - "Thus this spiritual love will speak to Christ about a brother more than to a brother about Christ. It knows that the most direct way to others is always through prayer to Christ and that love of others is wholly dependent upon the truth in Christ." More and more I have begun to realize that God allowed certain things to happen to me lately to make me forsake human love for the deeper, godlier spiritual love. He is forcing me to forsake human love, with all of its false promises in order that I may truly and humbly cultivate a spiritual love for my brothers and sisters. And through this I am learning to desire human interaction, but only through Christ our mediator.

To live in community is to relate with others through Christ.

May He be our constant guide and intercessor.