Breathtaking

"There once was a community of believers who were so totally devoted to God that their life together was charged with the Spirit's power. In that band of Christ-followers, believers loved each other with a radical kind of love. They took off their masks and shared their lives with one another. They laughed and cried and prayed and sang and served together in authentic Christian fellowship."

"There is nothing like the local church when it's working right. Its beauty is indescribable. Its power is breathtaking. Its potential is unlimited. It comforts the grieving and heals the broken in the context of community. It builds bridges to seekers and offers truth to the confused."

"I understand that it's more than just working with other people, it's doing life deeply with one another as we serve together. And there's a huge difference between the two."

-Courageous Leadership, by Bill Hybles

When you love deeply, you have the potential to hurt deeply. Even if the other person didn't mean to hurt you. (For those who DO mean to hurt you, that's an entirely different story.) When I've felt the most connected to people in the past and lived that kind of life with people, it was the hardest thing to deal with when they moved, got married, etc. and we no longer kept in touch. Logically you can't keep in touch with every person you were ever friends with. But that doesn't make the goodbyes any easier. There have been other people who started out in that close community, but weren't there for me when I needed them, weren't reliable, or weren't honest. Those are also hard blows.

But setting aside all the woes for a minute, I like the descriptions that Hybles gives of the body of Christ. He doesn't gloss over the problems they had - everyone has them. But overall they came back together.

There are some people I know right now, even if we aren't in close communication on a regular basis, that I intended on keeping in touch with for my whole life. The seasons of our friendships might look different if we are busy, single vs married, kids, moving, etc. But God willing, I hope that some of these people will be at my 90th birthday party. Ok, maybe not too many of the guys since they tend to die first, but maybe I'll be at their 90th birthday party. Maybe my kids will marry their kids and we'll be family by marriage. Maybe we'll all be at the same retirement communities together. (I hate bingo. I will forever hate bingo. We can play something else.) And then of course, we'll be in heaven forever.

Back to the present. The process of getting there doesn't happen by accident. No, it takes time, intentionality (which isn't a word?? but I'm leaving that there anyways), going through good times and bad times, communicating, doing a lot of things together, being honest and open, and more. You can try to drag someone into community, but it won't work. They have to be willing. Isn't it ironic that sometimes when life is difficult, instead of going to the people you're closest to, you withdraw? It doesn't make much sense. And maybe not everybody is that way. I'm not always that way... but sometimes I am.

And that concludes my thoughts and late night ramblings on the people I love.