"Come Unity" Community!

I have some friends who have been praying about and thinking about living in community. I have some friends who "are" living in community. As a matter of fact, whether we realize it or not, most people are involved in some sort of community.

Last year I had the opportunity to work a few Fridays at our local flea market. Rogers Market, (or Rogers Mall as some of us hicks call it), has it's own community. The merchants there know one another and look out for one another. Although I was not a regular, they welcomed me as though I was one of their own immediately. They showed me the ropes and even shared their gossip with me. It was an interesting and rewarding experience. It made me want to return and continue to get to know this diverse group of people that have found community in pavilions, cement and dirt floors, fruits, vegetables, and concession stands.

My first experience living in community (not counting growing up in my Italian home with my brother and parents), was almost 30 years ago. I was in a theater troupe that toured throughout the country. The women shared a house and the men shared a house. I don't recall using the word "community", but that's exactly what it was. At one point, there were nine of us living together at the "Sisters' House". It was a large old house next door to a Catholic High School and just about one or two blocks from our local state university. It was an experience I look back on and smile.

Not to be confused with another time about three years later when I moved into another "Sisters' House" in a different town with only three other women. When I look back on this time, I spend some time smiling and some time wincing at the conflict that consistently showed itself. There were serious tumultuous times. Some knock down drag out fights. Tons of selfishness and misunderstandings. It was still community. With a dose of hysteria. Some of the guys in our church called us the "Hen House". Although some of the women were offended by the term, I thought it was funny. Believe me, feathers flew!

I find the combination of "come" and "unity" interesting. Our cry for community, as God intended, in the first house was experienced. We lived what we believed about love and forgiveness in Jesus. My other experience struggled to attain the same type of community. We were too self absorbed.

Both experiences brought me closer to God. I mean that was the whole idea, right? It didn't matter how it was accomplished, either I grew closer to God because I experienced His love and grace together with my friends or because I ran to Him for safety and understanding. Both experiences were good experiences. I still have some close relationships with a couple of these women. From both situations.

I have also lived in "community" with families. I lived with a young family for about ten months who had two small children and then about 14 years later found our own young family living with them again, in my own home. Their family having grown to seven, it was a real interesting experience. Still, we are friends to this day, although they have moved to another town.

I have experienced a sort of community at my place of employment, which is also a ministry to those who find themselves in need. We work together to minister to those in our community who need food and clothing. We experience the joy of watching God work in individuals lives. We experience the sorrow of the death of young people on drugs or the elderly we love leaving this world. We marvel at the miracle of God's provision when we are struggling to attain food for our food pantry. We have conflict. This is community. It's life with one another. It's a call to unity.

Anyone who is desiring this is desiring what God had intended for us. "It is not good for man to be alone." God wanted community for Adam so He created Eve.

Although the most easy and peaceful times of my life have been when I've lived in an apartment alone, they have not been as rich as those times with others. By "rich", I mean I have acquired a wealth of grace, love, forgiveness, mercy, strength, courage, etc. when I have had someone living beside me, walking with me in my journey.

This lifestyle is completely upside down from what our culture is use to. It is looked at as "wrong". In my line of work, if two families are lviing together under one roof, one of them is considered homeless. I NEVER considered my friends who lived with me "homeless".

Everytime I made a choice to live with someone, isn't wasn't because my current situation was bad, it was God calling me to that place. A friend of mine once asked me why I moved so much. "Were you tired of the curtains?" We got a great laugh from that. It's just not accepted as normal.

Yes, there were times, I was screaming for God to release me from certain situations. They were hard. There was conflict. But it wasn't until the conflict was resolved or at least managed, that God said "Okay, time to move on." And he did that alot.

When I was living peacfully in my little apartment and Mike and Chris asked me to live with them and their baby, I did so because I felt strongly that God was calling me to. When I moved out into a trailor by myself, it was because God was calling me to a place of solitude. Those times of solitude that God gave me were much less than the times of community. I believe the reason for that was because God intended for me to live in community.

So, I say to those friends who are considering life in community, you are considering living as God had intended. It's not good for you to be alone. He longs to create community for you. Go for it!