I just read a blogpiece by Omid Safi on Seeking Community Here and Now.
What a beautiful article! The author touches the core of why we must engage in community: because of the qualities that others bring out in us. As simple as it may seem, in today’s world this is a revolutionary inversion of thoughts.
We need others to be fully ourselves.
Here are some quotes that I copied for my own records – although I highly recommend you to read it and soak it up to the full extent.
Community does not descend down from heaven. We have to shape it right here on Earth.
We deserve both solitude and connection. These are not opposites as much as they are rhythms of our soul.
We are cosmic dust, spinning and dancing away in space. What makes us become human is that the clay becomes suffused with spirit. In Sa‘di’s telling of the story, though, there is a less theological and more interpersonal turn. It is about fellowship, keeping the company of beautiful ones
Which brings me back to community, that perpetual quest for a sense of fellowship.
Community is an almost alchemical reaction that happens among all that we are capable of being and becoming.
Each of us is like a musical symphony, made up of so many unsung notes. It is the encounters with our fellow human beings that determine what notes emerge from us. We have a say in the matter, we have so much say in the matter… but the beauty of our companions also has a say. The beauty of our fellowship has a say.
For my own sake, I realize a big change in how I approach my sense of fellowship. When I was younger, I used to judge the company I would keep based on the qualities those friends displayed. I sought friends who were kinder, gentler, more luminous than myself. Now, my focus has shifted a bit more inward. I am more focused on qualities that different fellowships bring out in me. Whose companionship makes me kinder, gentler, more aware of our interconnectedness.
