Community

Saturday September 24, 2016

Edinburgh. 

Today was the first day in a while where I didn't really meet anyone. I am staying in a hostel in Edinburgh for a few days, and roommates are hit and miss. Today I've only seen them in passing. It felt very strange in someways. And yet totally normal in others. But it did get me reflecting on community. 

The most unexpected part of waking the West Highland Way was the community that developed. The first night I stayed in a bunkhouse with 8 other people as well as two couples in the b and b. And everyday I would see some or all of them. We quickly began to look out for one another. Checking in, "have you seen so and so yet today?" And at the end of the day when we frequently ran into one another again at the restaurants or places we were staying it was like meeting up with old friends. 

There were others I met on the trail, and would invariably see at some point every day. 

This slowed a bit once we passed the halfway point and people took a day break or took longer days and stopped on different locations. But still, I saw someone I had previously met every day. 

And when I got to Fort Williams, I celebrated with folks I had met on the way. And as I was there for a few days, continues to celebrate with the folks who arrived after me. 

 

It was a new community that had formed. Conversations on the trail ranged from small talk to deep conversations about life and spirituality and purpose. Some of that is due or my vocation I suppose, but some of it is simply due to the nature of the walk. 

My time on Iona was intentional community. And it worked well in someways. And in others the community formed while walking is the one I'll miss most. 

 

So what is community really about? When we talk about discipleship, it is a bit more than the small talk.  The early Methodists had a practice of gathering in small groups. Part of their purpose was to check in with one another. Beyond how is your health it was asked, "how is it with your soul?"  The best of our communities do this. Ask us the deep and hard questions. Encourage us to explore our relationship with God, to wonder, to pray, to worship, to serve. To be better disciples. The best of community both supports and challenges. It is there to help one another to walk more fully in The Way. It is this type of community we all so desperately need. 

 

How is it with your soul?