c o m m U N I T Y

hey. i don’t know how to start this thing heheheh.

i personally feel like i’m being a bit ambitious trying to tackle this as my first post in this section of the site. but, the reason this is my first post is because it is a very important thing to me, if not the most important thing. it’s pretty much the reason why i made this thing in the first place! and i’m going to say this now... i will probably (not certainly, but very likely) have a lot more to say around this particular topic because i spend a lot of quiet moments thinking about it. so, expect more posts about this.

and, without trying to make any disclaimer of any sort, i hope you can approach this understanding that i know i don’t have everything figured out… i’m simply just trying to figure things out and take you along. to be truthful, i don’t think i’ll ever fully figure anything out (cause i don’t think we are supposed to), but, the journey of exploring these things is fun and creates space for conversation where we can both get further into discovering what we believe about things. so… i do not claim to be writing the Truth, i am merely just exploring it and finding how it fits in my mind to appeal to my understanding of God… the universe… the spiritual… (whatever definition allows you to understand what’s beyond us).

i began writing this one out in my journal… something about typing it out made it seem “official” or something, and i wanted to feel like i could just scribble down what initially popped into my mind and edit it later. reading back on it now a few days later, i actually really like it. i don’t want these to be perfect, “well-written essays” because i’m not trying to impress you with my formatting or clever style. i want this to be as raw and candid as possible because that’s just simply what i want this to be. so anyway, you didn’t need to really know that but maybe it gives you a sense of my intentions here, i dunno! without further ado… let’s get into what i had written…

“i don’t even know where to begin with this one. i know i say that every time, but, truly, i have thought a lot about this “topic” & hope to write a post on it, and so it’s difficult for my brain to try to begin organizing all my thoughts on the page when they’re all constantly circling & evolving.

most of my time spent in reflection relates back to this. and it’s because i stand on the value of a foundation of unity; we are together, on this earth for a reason… the relationships we foster, develop and carry are / should be a priority in our lives. we are created to love others abundantly because we are first loved by the creator of the universe, and anything that stands as an obstacle of division must be seen and then disregarded. and i’m not one to make ultimate statements like that, but it is the Truth. and if you disagree, i’d love to hear the reason why you think different.

we have divided ourselves in what seems like an infinite number of ways, one of them which baffles me the most is how the church itself, which should be the foundation for community, has divided itself into denominations throughout history. it is such a human or “worldly” thing to want to slap a label on your forehead for everyone to see you and perceive you a certain way… it is not until we identify in God that we can finally be free from all the other labels and live life in all of its true fullness.

it’s a strange balance of understanding that, although we are all different, we are also all the same. and so the attitude that “no one understands me” is a huge lie that isolates us. the human experience, although manifested in countless different ways, is always one of immense suffering (relative to that experience), and moments of joy. we all carry an equal burden of “sin” (which just means how we fall short of the goodness we were created for), and although that could seem like a rather negative statement, it is actually the opposite. once we come to terms with that, pure freedom is found. to love others knowing that no one person is worse than us or to blame. we are equally loved by a God who doesn’t divide us, and yet knows us specifically. he knows each of us for our unique qualities, gifts, quirks, but he also sees the entire human race as one.

so why do we waste our breath dividing ourselves, creating a false sense of status to cause hatred, tension, and violence to prove our individual “superiority”? what good is it for me to look at someone with their different, unique qualities & compare them to my own, only to separate me farther from them? why do we have this desire towards isolation? why are we not always deeply compelled to be unified in love?”

and to continue… in that subject of isolation, it’s interesting to consider the season we’re all in of self-isolation & social distancing. it is, i think, proving itself to be very revealing to us that we want to be unified… we need community. there is a great amount of suffrage in many areas… in finance, health, plain boredom… but i think the greatest of these is the lack of human contact. we are seeing our desperation for relationships… and perhaps it’s a good thing for making us realize that people are (or, at least, should be) more important than our careers, our wealth, our titles.

i could go on and on about the whole money thing controlling us, but that’s a whole other ramble for another time. my greatest hope in this season is that we do take it as a lesson and revelation of a people-first value, universally. to hold our friends and family close when we can again. it would be a real shame if people allow themselves to spiral further into their loneliness and don’t take that one tiny step outside of themselves to reconnect. if you’re reading this and you haven’t done that… this is your sign! relationships are messy things (because people are messy things) but the joy that is derived is greater than any other joy.

anyways, this is quite long, and i know i have a lot more to say that (like i said) i will probably dive into more at a later time. thank you for reading this. i hope this gives you a little something to chew on. and again, i hope this becomes a conversation, so, i’d love to hear any thoughts you may have. if you know me, text me, if you don’t, you can easily contact me through this site :)

have a lovely lovely rest of your day / night!

xo

skye