COMMUNITY

Sandra sits with dad after driving us to the hospital Sunday morning.  We were sent home as there would be a long wait to see the specialist.  Dad drove us back at 12:30 as he was feeling okay to drive and is nervous with me driving.  By Wed. dad has shown a great improvement, woke up ready to get up and start doing things.  He has a few minor side affects and his feet have become more painful so he realizes the pills did help.

He heped me put out some things for the junk so that was excellent.

Thanks Rick for putting the pictures of you and Leah at the graduation.  She really looks lovely and you looked so proud of her as I am sure you are.  Glad she had beautiful roses.

So thankful Randy's mom's operation was successful and they took out all the cancer.

I felt a strong support and a sense of community in our family which gave me support and encouragement during this worrying time.

There was also a strong sense of community at the hospital emergency.  The doctors and nurses working so hard and calmly to take care of us.  There was also a sense of community with the other people who also were waiting and going to the various places to be tested just like we were doing.

I will always remember when I ran the Sun Run with Mary, Sandra and Suki.  Yes, there was a strong sense of community among the runners, even though it is in some ways a solitary sport.  The goal is about living life to the fullest.  It was a happy occasion with bands playing along the way and everyone seemed to be enjoying the day.  Michael John wants to compete in the Boston Marathon one day and he almost made it this year.

 

One of the big pluses about going to church is the sense of community and that people really care.

Reading about God's call to the people of Israel was a call to a group of wilderness wanderers and God's call to them to become a community of believers.  God invites them to make a covenant with Him to show the world that He rescues and saves so that they now live out a relationship of freedom. A relationship not of abusive power but one of grace and compassion, caring for one's neighbor and seeking justice for all.  They are being called into relationship; and Jesus comes to live out what this means in his life because the message has been corrupted by those in authority,

He is a Liberator. 

"The Hebrew Bible is a sort of a family spiritual pilgrimage, a record of a communal journey to and from God that reveals a deepening awareness of what it meant to be a Jew, and a widening understanding of God and God's love and justice."  from Christianity after Religion by Diana Butler Bass.

As a Christian we are called to be a community but one that is open and welcoming!