Variety: Galatians 6v2
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2
Relationships of mutual concern are rooted in both love and trust. These are people we know will hold our hearts with care. We’re prone to forgive them when they make mistakes, and we hope they’ll do the same for us. We feel accountable to one another. We want to share with them our important moments, both the hardships and the joys. We thrive when we’re together. Relationships of shared purpose are rooted not only in a commitment to one another, but also to a shared dream….
If the sweet spot … is the intersection of mutual concern and shared purpose, I want to root in a community that stands at that same intersection. Such a community sees every ritual, every service, and every gathering as an opportunity for a deepening of connectivity. It invests in people as complicated, multi-faceted, wounded, beautiful individuals, each one essential to the greater whole. This kind of community is fuelled by questions like “Who are you, and what brings you here?” rather than “Where do you work?” This kind of community establishes spiritual anchors—regular opportunities for people to pray, sing, grieve, learn, and reflect together. It recognizes the collective power of people of good will working to help heal the broader society and prioritizes creating pathways for the holy work to be done. It invests in the creation of sacred space that fosters not inclusion, but belonging, intimacy and authenticity, love and accountability.
Our work is not only to preach a theology of love and belonging, but to ensure that our communities strive to embrace that mandate. I am certain that this is the most important work we have done. That is the amen effect—the sacred mandate to hear each other, to embrace each other, to love each other up, especially on the hard days. To say to one another, “Amen.”
To take this mandate seriously means to do everything we can to free our sacred spaces of shame and stigma. It means to speak honestly and openly about disconnectedness and loneliness, depression, anxiety, and addiction…. Communities of love and belonging are spaces where even at our most vulnerable, we’re still willing to show up and start walking, trusting that our community, those circling toward us, won’t look away.
The scientific data and spiritual insight here are in strong alignment. Disconnection is a plague on our society, a plague of darkness. The antidote is rich, meaningful connection. We all need a helper: someone to meet our vulnerability with concern and care, to weep with us through the night, and to stand with us in the trenches, working with love to build a better world.
Rabbi Sharon Brous