The Call of Community

Well, I am in mourning. It has been a rough week. When you read this, I will be in Chattanooga, TN, delivering my fifth child to a university far, far from his home. I have been through this four other times, and you would think it would get easier, but it doesn't. His mother and I will leave him there and say goodbye. I will weep on the way home, and for about a week after that. Also, Brian Henson will be driving off into the sunshine of Texas on Sunday morning to start his new adventure of planting a church there. Ten years, we have done ministry together. Ten years, we have laughed every day. Ten years of living life and ministry together, and when I show up for worship this Sunday, it won't be the same; Brian will be gone. So yes, I am in mourning.It is not as if I am not totally and completely jazzed about each of my people moving on to the necessary next phase of life, but it is the end of things as they were, and I really liked the way things were. So what do you do when this happens? Glad you asked; we are going to talk about it Sunday.Last Saturday night, while I was in Middle Tennessee, and Brian was preparing for his last Sunday of being in the pulpit at St. Patrick, he wrote and told me that he was in mourning. He said that he was as proud as could be that the community group he and Erika had begun was continuing, but he was mourning over moving on. I dried the tears from my eyes and told him that it is hard because he has had a deep and abiding community, and that we are all sad. You see, if Brian was not invested deeply in a family here, it wouldn't hurt. The reason it hurts is that, in a real community, you love deeply. When people you love move on, it hurts.But another thing about community is this: as I mourn my son and ministry partner moving on, do you know where I will turn? I will turn hard into a community of my friends here. We will weep together, laugh together, tell stories together, and somehow, over time, God will heal our hearts. it will be slow, but it will happen. Meanwhile, Brian and my son Patrick have been trained in deep community, and as lonely as they will be initially, they will set about the task of bringing a real, robust community where they are.So, with the fall upon us and a new rhythm in view, we need to talk about investing deeply in each other, and what that will mean. I can think of nothing more important for your soul or your everyday happiness. See you Sunday.Blessings,Jim