But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10
A man and woman at the facility were talking about the holidays. I heard one say, “I wonder if perhaps you are lonely.” “Yes, I think I am” the other responded. That same day, several other people shared about sadness and missing the former connections with family and friends. “I don’t feel part of things anymore” was a common comment.
Feeling “a part of something”…. Whether loners or people persons, we are hard wired to be in community. Relationships and communities through the years shape us and provide connection. Wife/Husband. Father/Mother. Staff/Administrator. City/rural. Daughter/Son. Boomer/Millenial/Gen Z. Families, schools, neighborhoods, friends, work. These relationships and communities give support and purpose, provide opportunities for growth, and can also create struggle and problems. Sometimes we may feel this community and other times we may feel isolated. I suspect Mary and Joseph at times felt isolated and alone in their journeys with the baby Jesus. Yet even then the angels and shepherds and wisemen were somewhere close by.
In that story of Christmas, we celebrate that God so loved the world that he sent Jesus. That “people living in darkness have seen a great light.” If you are feeling alone, isolated or “not a part”, acknowledge those feelings as your experience of the moment. Also remember the big truth that you ARE part of a Great Connection whether you feel it or not. You are the People of
God. God is with you. God loves you. You are a chosen people as the scripture says. Because of that, all of us are to be with and be light to one another.
As we begin this year of 2025, I invite you to reflect on your connections and community. What communities are you a part of? What relationships are important to you? In what settings do you FEEL a sense of community and when do you feel alone or disconnected? I also invite you to reflect on LOVE. That we are part of something greater than ourselves. That even if we were thousands of miles from another person, we are in community with God. And that connection helps us to choose to be a loving community for one another.
Chaplain Karen