Lately, my community has been reflecting on how we came together. We’ve been in the news twice because others folks take notice of this strange phenomenon.
In the last few years, we learned the art of gathering. To gather means to cause to come together.
We figure out a reason to come together, and each neighbor brings his or her own flair. In the midst of ladies lunches, the play date for Dads, Saturday pancakes, Monday Night Fitness (which grew from 4 people to 50!), community service projects, walking to school, potluck dinners, birthday celebrations, living room singer-songwriter concerts, or whatever else might happen in a week, we consciously decide to do it together.
We resist the temptation towards isolation. And we gather, even if the invitation puts us into unusual situations with folks we aren’t used to. Whatever we are doing, we ask ourselves, “Which family can I invite along?”
Living with flair means finding a reason to bring the neighbors together. You have to pick up your phone or go door-to-door. Whatever it takes, you fight isolation and gather people into community. And once everybody has a place to belong, we all flourish and discover this is how it was meant to be.
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Journal: What families do I need to gather into my community?