Kids get community.
(And they understand what it means to be all in where they are.)
They just do.
Yesterday I happened to go on a friend date with a mommy. We went somewhere kid-friendly (the mall play-place) so we could talk and he could play.
I got there a little early, and a girl came in with her mother and began playing.
Once my friend got there, her child and the girl played together.
It wasn't long before many children were there, playing together.
When someone new came, they were automatically included.
When someone left, it was okay; it was understood it was time for them to leave.
They were all in where they were, giving all of themselves despite them knowing there would be an end to this time, that these people wouldn't be the ones who were always there.
You know what the best part of this was?
They just got it.
They didn't try to get it.
They didn't make up rules or conditions for how or why it should happen.
It just did.
And anyone who came was included.
Sometimes, we don't want to be where we are.
Sometimes, we don't want to leave where we are.
But what if we just accepted where we were?
What if we were able to put aside our fears and live life with the people we were with for as long as we were with them?
What if we decided it was worth investing in them and knowing them, even if only for a day?
What if we chose to accept that the one leading our steps knows better than us?
Sometimes, for some reason, children just get things we don't.
Maybe we should pay a little more attention to that.
After all, Jesus did say to come to him as a child does...
2 comments:
Good stuff to think about.. community really isn't hard. We make it hard. My church was just talking about this the other day-- how, especially here in the Northeast, people are so guarded and walled-up that churches try to force community by creating things like "Connectgroups" and "Lifegroups" and "Home fellowship groups". But really, community isn't so hard, doesn't take so much work. Just letting go, loving God and loving people and letting them love you.
By the way, you got me officially hooked on to the Civil Wars. I'd never heard of them before.. awesome.
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