Designed for Community

I always considered myself a bit of a lone wolf, able to go off on adventures by myself but recently this idea has been turned on it's head. I must have watched too many superhero films!

I was walking the west highland way (Milngavie to Fort William - 95 miles) with a couple of mates but they pulled out on the second day, 25 miles into the walk, my pride got the better of me and I decided to go on myself. 20 miles later I pulled out feeling very low and lonely.

I needed someone to share the experience with, someone to encourage me when I was struggling, someone just to enjoy the walk with.

Someone.

This is the same with life. We need to share the experience with people, how often do people get depressed and start to struggle when they don't have someone there to love and encourage them, who have an ear to listen to their problems.

We each need a community of friends to be with, to enjoy life with. Of course there are times when we need to be alone but on the overall grand scheme of things we need someone.

We are designed to be in community.

I'll be finishing the West Highland Way another time and it will definitely be with someone.

Gluing the world back together

I came home from a five day trip to Paris yesterday which was amazing but one major thing that stood out to me in that beautiful city is the obvious divide between rich and poor. Paris is an expensive city so some who live there have a lot of money and may have second homes elsewhere in France while there are many people who call the streets of Paris their home. Of course this is the case of most cities across the world.

There is enough for everyone's need but not for everyone's greed - Ghandi

When I went to visit the Sacré-Coeur, a huge church in Paris, it was so grand and gives a great view over the city. At each entrance sat a different woman, each pleading for money. It was so hard walking around that church while thinking about those women, why is the world like this I asked myself. We cry out to God asking what he is doing but he is also crying out to us asking what we are doing about it. When leaving the church I saw a visitor talking to one of the homeless women and she handed her some perfume. This may not fill a homeless women's stomach but it will give her a sense of identity that they are a woman. The reaction was confusion at first but then a smile appeared on her face.

A smile.

The world is full of divisions and continues to split, countries, governments, religions, the church, myself and yourself. I was reading this morning about the split of Israel into Judah and Israel back in 945BC due to the pride of King Rehoboam.

Pride and humilty.

Let us not be too proud to help that person in need, that person who is lonely and needs a friend, that person who just needs someone to talk to, that person who needs to fill their empty stomach. Let us mend those divisions and the world to become one community and to have a wholeness of peace.

Shalom.