Dear Friends ~ I want to speak now about the grace of community. Nan Merrill's interpretation of Psalm 133 says that this unity "is like a shimmering rainbow, breaking through a summer rain..." As children of the Divine Mother/Father, communion is our birthright, the yearning for community is our DNA. Particularly when fragments and shards of what once seemed coherent lie scattered around us, we need the experience of authentic connection and relationship to give us courage and the possibility of joy. Community is necessary even for those who thrive in solitude: when the world is in turmoil we can tether ourselves to one another with the same thread we use to weave ourselves to Silence and Mystery.
Yet, no matter how essential, the shimmering rainbow of experiential community frequently arrives after a drenching baptism of storm and thunder. A wise friend once spoke truly to me of the "crucible of community", of the surety of disappointment and the inevitable encounter with my own brokenness. That is the uncomfortable secret of grace: It operates in the gaps, where the self-image cracks and the heart breaks open. Community is, in my friend's words, "a terrible blessing", but a beautiful and necessary one that opens us to healing and the astonished ability to see the holy light in one another.
So, my friends, take heart. Reach for the hand of a companion and stay the course. Grace abounds. Ar Scáth a Chéile a Mhaireann na Daoine.* It is in the shelter of each other that the people live. ~ Lindsay
*This is an old Celtic/Irish saying.