It’s so easy to stay isolated in winter. You want to stay in slippers and cozy clothes, sip tea, and watch movies. You’re fine just sitting here with your cats, your simmering winter soups, and your little family who enjoy their solitary pursuits of homework, knitting, drawing, and puzzles.
So lovely, but so incomplete. I think about God’s design for our togetherness as a body of believers and our oneness. I think of interdependence and how to actively participate in the lives of those in my community. My default state these days? Isolation and staying in. Why bother?
But then I remember God’s design. And I pray for the motivation and creativity to get outside myself and join others.
I call a friend to join me on my otherwise solitary walk. I go to church in the cold morning and connect with my large, spiritual family. I host a gathering to watch football. I set up lunches with friends and email my prayer group to meet this week.
Some isolation and solitude blesses the soul, but too much, and we miss something fundamental about our identity: we are interdependent and belong together.