over the years, i've been humbled and broken. and i've experienced what its like to hide my struggles from people and try to "fix" myself all on my own, only leading to further humbling and brokenness. i've also experienced Christ's love through people. although it was through people that a lot of lies were birthed in my heart, it was through people that God was able to heal my heart and help me experience the true power and meaning of His amazing love for me. i guess God likes to work in full circles.
another thing i've learned about spiritual community is what it doesn't have to be. spiritual community is not just a super tight-knit group of people who knows everything about one another. its not lovey-dovey, hand-holding, pinky-entwined, kumbaya friendships. spiritual community is Christ's love. and spiritual community can happen among a group of strangers. we might not all know one another and what we're all going through, but as a spiritual community, we can still worship the Lord our God together, hearts and spirits unified in praise.
case and point: lunch with david. made pan-fried pork chops with a raspberry-jalapeno sauce that i kinda just made up, "Roasted Cumin-Lime Carrots" and a failed attempt at making a pea puree (i added too much potato and it just ended up being mashed potatoes).
before that afternoon, i didn't know david at all. i knew of him -- the loud and outgoing guy from last year's freshie class, the guy who's been in two of my roomies' life groups, a guy whose seeming personality reminded me of another loud and outgoing older brother who used to go to our church. other than these facts and external observations, there was no shared context or even shared conversation that lasted longer than a minute. so when he emailed me a couple weeks ago out of nowhere about meeting up, i was surprised, but pleasantly surprised. i like meeting new people, and "random" meals can be refreshing.
our conversation was surprisingly easygoing. for someone i didn't share any context with besides church, i felt unexpectedly at ease. maybe it was because david seems to be good with people and community-building. but in either case, i was blessed by our conversation. even though we didn't really know one another, it was good to be able to see God moving in his life. despite all the tangents, rabbit trails, and jokes, i couldn't help but keep going back to the particular topic of spiritual gifts. im sure he didn't even really notice, but i think i was blessed because it was so clear to me that God is really wanting to use this guy for great things. it was so clear that God has given him certain gifts that can bring Christ to communities, to relationships, and to people. idk if he even realizes this about himself! haha. but to be able to see God in his life, see God moving, even though i still don't really know this kid that well -- that was such a blessing. im realizing thats one of the things i enjoy the most out of my conversations and times spent with people here -- seeing God work and move in their lives, whether they know it or not.
afterwards, we worshiped together. :) apparently, we both love worship, so with guitar in tow, we sang a couple worship songs together. i loved it. im pretty sure he was weirded out in the beginning when i asked/told him that we should have a mini-mini worship session. but whatevs. it was awesome being able to worship God together. in that moment, as we were singing "mighty to save" and "hungry," it didn't matter that we barely knew one another. it didn't matter that this was our first legit conversation. it was just about God, that afternoon was just about God, it was just us and Him, and that's how it should be. i think thats what spiritual community is. we might not know everything about one another, but in the end, all to God be the glory. with david, there wasn't much of a past context. and who knows what's in the future; he'll probably most likely remain an acquaintance, an endearing underclassman, especially cuz our paths will be in different cities for the coming years. but in the present, on that wednesday afternoon, God was with us, and that's something i'm cherishing and will miss about HMCC here in ann arbor.
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