Finding Community

I went to my church’s Bible study last night, and we’re going through A Fragile Stone: Peter: Jesus’ Friend With Michael Card.  We talked about the issue of moving, since Peter left behind his fishing occupation to follow Jesus.  One of the questions in the book was: “What move from a home or a community has been the most traumatic or difficult in your life?”

Often, I think about the places where I did not fit in, and I become discouraged.  What I thought about last night, however, was how I’m usually reluctant to move to someplace new because I’ve found my niche in a given community.  To my surprise, as I look back, I can see that such has been the case in every place where I have lived.  I was slightly bummed out about moving from Greencastle, Indiana to Boston because I liked my church in Greencastle, a campus Christian group that had awesome praise and worship, and the nice people I knew.  I was then bummed out about moving from Boston to New York City because I liked my church in Boston.  I was especially bummed out about moving from New York City to Cincinnati because I was spiritually fed by Tim Keller’s sermons at Redeemer in New york, and I also enjoyed the New York Metro Adventist Forum.  In Cincinnati, it took me a while to find a community, but I eventually did, and so I was fearful that I wouldn’t find a community in upstate New York, where I was moving (though, of course, I’d have my Mom, my Mom’s husband, and the kitty-cats—-and, as one lady in the group who has also moved a lot said, being around family can make things easier).  But I’ve found a good church here.  But there will come a point when I’ll have to move from here.  Will I find a community in the next place where I am?

I guess that I should trust that God will take care of me wherever I might be.  I’m often hesitant to say this, for what about the people in the world who are lonely and lack community?  Does God love them less?  That shows that I need to be sensitive to the needs of others.  But it amazes me that, even though I often complain about not fitting in, I’ve usually found some community wherever I am.