Message from Pastor Karyn for Feb 2024
It’s been a month and a half since I returned from sabbatical, and while December was filled with all the things Advent and Christmas are full of, I continue to reflect on my time away. Over and over again, I remember the stories of how human beings are born to be in community. Over and over again, I heard about how in times of hardship and in times of plenty, people found ways to build community to weather life. Even I, while away from my community of people, built community along the way with those who love nature and travel and learning and eating. Each of the trains, hotels, museums, restaurants and sites were opportunities to join in community with others and share a little of yourself, even if you would never cross paths again.
“We Build Community is about building lasting relationships that create a place where welcome and love are known by all. ”
I don’t remember names, but there was the music/computer professor from Oregon who I shared a love of music with over breakfast one morning. He blew my mind as he talked about his work merging his two fields. The Jewish psychologist who asked the best questions about my work as we ate lunch. Omar and Michael and my 6 other new friends who toured Atlanta sites with me. Omar introduced me to the best little juice/food/community gathering place in Atlanta that I hope I can find again. For one day, the nine of us were family as we dove a little deeper into the civil rights history of Atlanta. Lee asked me to take a picture of him and his friends where we were all enjoying some soul food and then ended up talking with me for 20 minutes as I waited for my food. The owner of a great little BBQ place in Selma who allowed me to sit inside even though they weren’t seating people. The tour guide at 16th Street Baptist in Birmingham, who talked with me about not only the history of that place but also the work we were both doing for justice. The homeless man in Birmingham who sat and told me his story and listened as I told him mine, then called me a queen and told me not to settle. The folks I talked with about the joys and pains of being someone with curly hair were endless. The people sharing tips and recommendations as we encountered each other along the way. The stories about how I found community as I traveled are endless.
Building community comes in all shapes and sizes, but centers around what we hold in common, which is knowledge that only comes after we get to know each other. I think of the conversations I had with any of the people I encountered along the way and it all started with being curious about them or them, me. We asked questions, we got to know each other, we found what we held in common, and we discovered how we held that commonality differently. The same is what guides us at First. We Build Community is not a value that is about getting more members. It is about building lasting relationships that create a place where welcome and love are known by all. Where we can flourish in our faith and our following of Jesus. It is about being able to wrestle with hard issues together without demonizing each other, instead honoring each person as beloved—of God and of each other and finding a way forward together. We build community is a natural extension of We Welcome All, it is continuing the work we have done to be a place of welcome and love.
It was this work that we did together that influenced my sabbatical. It is this work to welcome and build and serve that gave me the courage to go to places where I lived uncomfortable more than comfortable, so that I can learn to love more deeply. It is this work that we did together that laid the foundation for the Spirit to move in me more deeply while I was away so that at the end of it the words of Mumford and Sons rang in my soul: And so, I’ll be found with my stake stuck in this ground marking its territory of this newly impassioned soul. What is this ground, you may ask? Love. I have placed my stake into the ground—I will choose love, every time. I will work everyday to welcome all, build community and serve my neighbor.