Our eighth understanding calls us to be faithful to one another as sisters and brothers in community. Our faithfulness to one another consists in the invitation to suffer together and rejoice together. For a dispersed community such as ours, that is a particularly difficult challenge.
Living at the hermitage, I am free to pray for whom I will, neglect whomever I will, and no one would be the wiser. Except me, and the Holy Spirit. Faithfulness to the whole of the community asks me to love each as a member of my own body -- as Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians and elsewhere, we are members each of the whole, and there is not one of us who is at liberty to say we do not need any of the others.
Of course, we will find those in the community with whom we find a natural attraction, a common 'vibe' or sense of connection. But if we permit those relationships to become unbalanced, if there are some we cultivate and others we simply do not keep faith with, then we will fracture, and the whole will be harmed.
I am aware of some who were once active members who, for whatever reason, have withdrawn from active participation. Some of us have natural times of more and less frequent contribution to online discussions, or who pray silently for others rather than chime in with assurances of prayer. It will always be our calling, though, to hold each other in warm regard, beyond personality or preference, seeing each with the eyes of God as our beloved sisters and brothers. Faithfulness is a practice and a gift of community!
Living at the hermitage, I am free to pray for whom I will, neglect whomever I will, and no one would be the wiser. Except me, and the Holy Spirit. Faithfulness to the whole of the community asks me to love each as a member of my own body -- as Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians and elsewhere, we are members each of the whole, and there is not one of us who is at liberty to say we do not need any of the others.
Of course, we will find those in the community with whom we find a natural attraction, a common 'vibe' or sense of connection. But if we permit those relationships to become unbalanced, if there are some we cultivate and others we simply do not keep faith with, then we will fracture, and the whole will be harmed.
I am aware of some who were once active members who, for whatever reason, have withdrawn from active participation. Some of us have natural times of more and less frequent contribution to online discussions, or who pray silently for others rather than chime in with assurances of prayer. It will always be our calling, though, to hold each other in warm regard, beyond personality or preference, seeing each with the eyes of God as our beloved sisters and brothers. Faithfulness is a practice and a gift of community!
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