Good morning…
This morning around 10:30 am, women on our Friday morning roster will walk down the sidewalk to the left of our home, pass through our wooden gate and into the warmth of our cozy basement. We will begin our deep dive into Paula D’Arcy’s Sacred Threshold: Crossing the Inner Barrier to Deeper Love. Our class has not been together since the first Friday in December, and I cannot wait to welcome both old regulars and fortunate newcomers.
Remembering back to our final gathering of last semester, we shared a delicious meal and discussed our favorite wisdom gleaned from the book study. The morning we met, one woman had just lost her first grandchild to a miscarriage. Our small group felt grateful to surround her, to hear her tender story, to share in the depth of her sadness. Knowing of her loss ahead of time, God’s Spirit nudged me to bring a furry scarf I knew our friend would enjoy on her mountain walks with her dog. Circled up on cozy couches, we passed around the soft symbol of our collective love. We each took our turn speaking aloud our heartfelt hopes and prayers for our beloved friend and her family.
Deepening our bond, our grieving friend opened her book to page 160 and read to us the words she valued most.
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The Power of Community For Spiritual Transformation from Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton
It is impossible to overstate the importance of community in the spiritual transformation process. This is not the same as the Christian busyness that often accompanies church life; it is about quietly sharing the journey with others who are also drawn to deeper levels of spiritual transformation that enable them to discern and do God’s will. As noted earlier, Jesus chose a spiritual community to accompany him on his spiritual journey on earth, and he defined his spiritual community as those who were willing to seek out and do the will of God (Mark 3:33-34).
The desire to know and do the will of God and to live a life that made this possible formed the disciples’ primary identity, and it was on this basis that they came together in unity. They ate together, traveled together, slept out under the stars together, ministered together, talked, asked questions, argued and challenged each other. They stayed together under duress, conflict, betrayal and even death, seeking to do the will of God and to become more like Jesus in the process. In the crucible of community they were shaped and molded to become future leaders of the church. They were changed as individuals, and ultimately they changed the world through the inauguration of a new kind of relationship with God through the person of Christ.
Taking a closer look at the relational rhythm of Jesus’ life, we notice that within the small group of twelve there were three disciples with whom he was particularly intimate. These three he invited to be with him in his most private moments of grief and agitation in the Garden of Gethsemane. Even though they failed him significantly then, Jesus’ request to them shows that he was in touch with his need for intimate friendship and spiritual support. It is one thing to tell someone about something that you have wrestled with and overcome in the past tense, it is quite another to invite someone to be with you in your current struggle when you aren’t sure of the outcome! Relationship at this level is truly transforming.
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With these wise words and the honest sharing of her deep sadness, our friend invited us close. In the crucible of community we were shaped, molded, spiritually transformed. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us (1 John 4:12, NLT).
We all left our intimate gathering having touched a soft scarf saturated with the tangible love of God.
…Sue…
