Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, July 20, 2022
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
It’s easy for me to isolate. Even pre-pandemic I preferred to keep my own company, with occasional forays out for coffee with a couple of friends. I’ve been a self-employed, work-from-home person for a lot of years, and it works for me.
But in spite of that, this introvert needs to belong. I know how critical community is to emotional and spiritual well-being. And sometimes I just get downright lonely. I, all by myself, am not “a people.”
God calls each of us into community. We are invited to become not just “a people”, but “God’s people”, holy and beloved. In that community God nurtures us as we nurture one another with the grace, compassion, companionship, and joy we all need to flourish. Also in that community, God reminds us again and again that we are to go forth and reflect God’s love and light into the world, acting lovingly and decisively on behalf of our neighbors, so that we all might flourish.
No one is mean to be alone, though many are, often not by choice. May we live out our call to be God’s people by welcoming our neighbors into that beloved community every chance we get.
Do I prefer to be alone or with people? What does community mean to me?