love

for those of you who know me well you know that tuesday concluded roughly eight months of work i've done on a documentary film project.  the documentary, entitled canaries in the mine, focuses on the loss of alabama's black farmers and what this means for the state. however, one of the other thematic arcs is the idea of preserving rural community within alabama. 

because so much of my time was devoted to this project i was continually trying to metabolize the idea of community and it's importance.  i would come home from interviewing these amazing people who were essentially watching their communities disappear and my heart would just be so burdened for them.  

then one night i was reading through john and i came to the part in chapter 17 when jesus is praying.  he says to our Father: 

my prayer is not for them [the disciples] alone. i also pray 

for them that will believe in me through their message, 

that all of them may be one, father, just as you are in me and

i am in you.  may they also believe in us so that the

world may believe that you have sent me. 

john 17:20-21

it was through reading this that i came to understand that it is our obligation to create, construct, participate and foster loving Christ-centered community.  Jesus indicates here that by doing so we are a testament to the world that the Lord sent Christ to die. 

pagans can love people who love them.  they can encourage and support people who support and encourage them.  non-believers can like people who speak the same, act the same and dress the same as they do.  

but we are called to something so much greater than that. we are called to love and be in community with those who despise us. i sometimes don't do a good job of loving and fostering community among my friends.  

but i want to be so much more than an ordinary human being who gravitates towards and loves the people who share my ideologies and habits.  i want to love all those around me. i want people to feel the joy of God-breathed relationships. i want the way that i interact with people to be a testament to the Father that loves me.