It Takes a Village
This African quote is quite familiar to us all “It takes a village to raise a child”. I believe it. I’ve experienced it in raising my own children. Parents, grandparents, aunts & uncles, friends, church members, baby-sitters, neighbors, teachers - - all of those folks helped raise my children (and did a fantastic job, I might add). All those folks helped raise me. They raised you, and the rest of the people who cross your path everyday as well. Guess what, fellow children of God, it takes a village to raise us all!
God never intended for us to be solo acts. From humanity’s beginning, we were made to be with others, to be in community. When we’re conceived, our human body grows inside another human. When we first ate, someone else fed us. When we learned to walk someone held our hand. When we learned to read, an author first wrote the book and so on and so on…
We are individuals, uniquely made, with different skin, with different genders, with different gifts, and with different experiences. Each of us created in the image of God, beautiful and holy. And when God was done creating us, God said “This is very good” (Gen. 1). But then, God got to wondering and asked “What would happen if all of these people I created worked together? What would this world look like?” And Voila! the Church was born (A quote from the Gospel of Joan:).
“The Church” is not a building. It is not a set of rules. It is not a business. It’s people. People coming together to share with one another their gifts, their joys, their struggles, their boredom - their relationship with God. It is a vessel that is created by God’s beloved children (that’s all of us). It is a space to question, a space to create, a space to give praise, a space to learn, a space to serve, a space to love. Most importantly, it is a space that each of us, together, creates. There are no solo acts here. Only a group of folks doing their best to follow Christ’s lead, with the gifts and talents God gave us, and the desire to walk in the ways of Love.
You are my village. I need you to help raise me, to help me walk in the ways of Love. I need to you to forgive me when I goof it all up, and laugh with me when I’m joyful. I need you to share your story with me because every time you do, I see God from another perspective. I need you to do some cooking when we have meals, because I don’t cook very well! Sometimes, I’ll need you to carry hope for me, because I can’t seem to find mine. I need you to be you, and let me be me, because we balance one another and bring new life to one another. Together, we are dynamic. Together, we will change the world. We will create a church that seeks justice, loves mercy and walks humbly with our God. And God will once again say “This is very good!”
Rev. Joan
