LEX

the value of community

“What’s it like to be back?” I have heard that question a lot this week. I’ve been able to reunite with many familiar and loved faces that I knew so well during my time here. Camille, Jennie & Miguel and the new baby Diego, as well as those in Chichigua and Pancho Mateo – Evelyn, Kiko, Roslan, Gerda, Cristina, Katy & Fredy, Judy, and many others. My friends. Mi familia.

It is, of course, not my permanent home, nor are they my blood family. But there is something that binds us together. Something greater than geography and blood. Something that allows us to sit and talk and hug and laugh as if not a day has passed.
It is the spirit of community that I love about this place. And there are two communities that I love.

The first is the national community, whether that be Haitian or Dominican. It is the community that makes me a part of their family despite the color of my skin, despite my national origin, despite my native tongue, despite the months for which I have been “lost,” as Evelyn says. It is the community that, while they do have the same human struggles of us all, does not look at me in terms of status, does not value me for what I can do for them, but allows me into their homes and into their lives. It is the community that invites me to sit on their porch, to enter into their homes (along with 12 of my new friends), to drink their juice, and ask me to come back soon – and it’s not just a nice thing to say, but they mean it. It is the community that is community held together by one simple bond – humanity.

And then there is the Body of Christ with whom I share this experience. People I have known for several years, others just a few months, and others for just a few days. And though this community is much more homogenous than the first, we are still held together by one thing, one much stronger – no, the strongest bond – of our Lord Jesus Christ – and added to that is our love for this beautiful country and its beautiful people. It is a community in which we learn to live life – together. We eat together. We serve together. We rest together. We support and encourage each other and carry each others burdens when it becomes too heavy for them.

It is this practice of community that I hope we can all take back to Austin. To eat together. To serve together. To bear each others burdens. The independent American way has left so many of us lonely and weak. The community for which Jesus prayed will refresh and strengthen.

posted by Alexia & Jeffrey @ 9:28 AM