Community

It's a good feeling when you are a part of a team, part of a family or in the thick of community.
We all want to feel we belong.
As a teenager I spent most of my evenings hanging around downtown with the riff-raff. And we were a community - it was us against them (them being cops or authority figures). It was a terribly dysfunctional community but one you felt a part of nonetheless.
Presently I'm part of a dance class and this is a unique community of it's own. We speak the same language (or at least I try!) and we have a goal - to make this creative process work and flow.
The other day I was sitting on my front steps. They are your basic 70s cement poured that get all nice and warm in the sun which explains why the cats are always laying on them. On the top of the steps there was this ant struggling with the dead carcass of a spider (I'm NOT good with spiders but this one was dead so I was OK). It was attempting to maneuvre it down the steps which were like crawling down mountains for this ant. It was very determined and I watched it's progress with interest. Eventually the ant caught a good breeze which blew it down all the steps to the pavement. The ant continued to drag this thing along and I thought well, you've succeeded in getting it down the steps....now what. There was more trouble ahead! Once the ant arrived in the grass getting that dead spider through this jungle was even more difficult as it kept getting hung up in the blades of grass. But the ant carried on....on it's own. Finally, it must have been getting closer to home for soon there was a bevy of ants (more like uncles and aunts) there to help out. Community had arrived and they were soon making steady progress with their prize.
The Body of Christ is a Community - we have our Head (Christ) and we are all parts of the body, ideally working together and functioning as a healthy unit. There is so much we can get done when we work together! And everyone plays a part, everyone belongs, everyone is needed. It is always a sad thing when someone feels they don't belong and are not necessary or vital and eventually they slip away.
Let's do our best to encourage our family, spiritual or otherwise. Let them know they are loved and wanted, because they are!