"I shall dwell in the house of the
Lord my whole life long."
Psalm 23:6

I attended a reading group recently and, as often happens, the discussion veered a bit from the immediate topic. Religion pops up as a side issue quite often, and so it did on this occasion.

One member of the group commented that she did not belong to any church. She understood that others may believe in a higher power, but as she observed it, her neighbors and acquaintances were drawn to the church because of the sense of community -- nice friends and social events.

It was neither the time nor place to expand upon her observation, but deep down inside of me, I was saying, "You got it! You bet we do! We have a sense of community. It holds us, nurtures us, and gives us peace, and meaning in our lives." Not the community my friend observed, but that which we talk about, sing about, pray about, and proclaim loudly in the Apostles Creed. We proudly declare that we belong to a community of saints, a community of believers that transcends time and space.

We hold our values strong, and hopefully it is reflected as we interact with our community of neighbors, friends and coworkers. And thus we are known to them. The greater challenge, then perhaps, is how shall they also know us by our beliefs?

Lord God, continue to nurture us that we may serve you in our spiritual community and in the community that surrounds our daily lives. Amen

Contributed by Helen L.
Published Monday April 21, 2003
Week 21 of Liturgical Year B