Community and Stability

"As we all face yet another world crisis and are tempted to despair, how important it is that we lead our home, our conversations, our relationships in the direction of holding fast to the goodness of God, to cultivate close community in order to provide a sense of stability and hope." -- Sally Clarkson

As our family is completing our first week of Lent, I am diving deeply into two words God is continually placing before me: stillness and stability.  

In contemplating the word stability, I am reminded of the context in which stability can really be exercised and that is within COMMUNITY. And so today, when I read the above quote from Sally, I decided to write a little blog post about my thoughts on these words: community and stability.

June 20, 2020 was the day that our family officially became part of the Orthodox Christian Church but more specifically, the local community of Christ the Savior Orthodox Church in Harrisburg, PA. 

You would have to know my past history with church (aka organized religion) to really appreciate how incredible this step was for me. Years of various deep hurt by the church and It's leaders left me wounded and seeking to run away from it all. I decided I could love and serve God apart from The Church, away from people, far away from community. I have always referred to myself as NOT a people person and more task oriented. I am more introverted by nature and struggle with making new friends. I struggle to forgive those who have wronged me yet never apologize. Recently I was thinking, "Wow, if I could just not interact with people very often I would lessen the chances of being hurt and then I wouldn't have to deal with forgiveness so much". I was contemplating this in light of how serious it is that our measure of ability to forgive others is directly tied to how God forgives us (the Lord's Prayer). "If only I didn't need to interact with sinful people so much Lord, I could be a better Christian", I said in my heart. There was even a time I said that I would never set foot back in a church again. I said I would worship and serve God on my own and boy did I have to eat those words. 

Fast forward to today and I am SO thankful to be a part of a church community again! The process of being in community and sticking it out even when things are tough brings about a molding of character and stability that I so desperately need. 

I am currently reading a book (shocking to all who know me, I know) titled, "Stability: How an ancient monastic practice can restore our relationships, churches, and communities". I would like to share some excerpts from the book that really have spoken to me especially on this topic of community and stability. In this particular section below that I share he mentions St Benedict who had some rules for joining his monastic community.

 

Benedict's Rule provides some brilliant guidance for soul formation, but very little of it makes sense outside the context of committed community. 

To treat the Rule as instruction for personal spirituality apart from community is to sever the tree from it's roots. With Benedictine spirituality -- as with any expression of Christianity -- the context it other people, and the context is critical. 

The monastery -- a residential worshiping community with limited exposure to the rest of the world -- is just an especially radical (or clear or pure) example of the almost totally forgotten truth that Christianity is communal. You cannot come close to authentically following Jesus or obeying the teachings of Jesus all by yourself. 

Jesus says love one another. You can't do that alone. 

Jesus says forgive one another. You can't do that alone. 

Jesus says serve one another. That requires another. 

Jesus says share your resources with one another. It's impossible to share money with yourself. That's not sharing. That's keeping. 

In his commentary on Benedict's great chapter on humility, Hubert van Zeller writes, "Community life spells (what is required)" to "the humble man". In other words, God uses the committed, consistent presence of others to shape and grow the individual into the image of Christ. 

Christianity happens with others. It is a distinctly others-focused religion.

Is community the goal? No. Salvation is the goal. Restoration of all things is the goal. 

But what a monastery reveals very clearly is that restoration happens best within the context of stable community. 

 

Wow, these words really spoke to my heart and reminded me that community is crucial to my Christian faith and walk. There will be days when everything in me wants to bail out because it gets difficult and hard BUT that is when I will remember the vow I made to commit to this community. Like the vows made in becoming a monastic or the vows made when entering into marriage, I am committed. Vows imply struggle and difficulty. Our humans hearts are restless by nature but we must resist the impulse to leave as soon as something gets hard. We must practice stability. In the moment, stability may lack attraction. But in retrospect, as we consider the difference-makers, as we identify the most respected, as we celebrate the fifty-year marriages and the successful navigation of long-term challenges, the value of stability is revealed.

Lord, help me to practice stability. Help me to bloom where I am planted. Calm my restless heart and help me to embrace where You have placed me at THIS moment. Help me to be a blessing to my church community and mold me more and more into Your image with the help of my community. May I stay committed and faithful in what You have given me in the present. Help me to be content. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.