With a name like Veritas Community you probably get an idea on a couple things that are important to us. Truth and Community. If you didn’t get a chance to read the last post go back and read about our need for Truth today too, but there’s going to be more of that to come too. But another thing we value and believe deeply is our need for community. We believe that it’s such an important thing that God designed us for it from the very beginning.
Ever since God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, He realized that it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Out of all of the things that were good and perfect at the very beginning, this was one thing that even God noticed wasn’t good: being alone. So, God created a woman as a companion for Adam and thereby started the first community. Ever since then no one has really been alone. Not even Tom Hanks on a castaway island (even he had Wilson).
Sure from time to time people go somewhere to be alone for a little bit, and that’s ok. Solitude is what we would call a spiritual discipline. But it’s only good to do that for a little bit. After a while there’s that longing to be back with people again. Even my wife would agree with this. With our five children, there’s plenty of times that she just wants to be alone and to not hear, “Mom!!!” for a little bit. She needs a little time alone, but after a few hours (ok, she’d probably appreciate a few days) of quiet and solitude she misses the kids and maybe me too. There’s this innate longing built into each of us to be with other people.
One of the people in our community recently commented on how there’s built in groups in high school like band and other communities where we find our niche. But then as you get into the workforce and keep moving on in life some of those built in communities aren’t there any more. Yet, the need for community and belonging, like mindedness and purpose don’t go away. However, as we’ve been doing things together for the past few months and exploring what this community aspect of life looks like, they said that this need for community was fulfilled in what we’re doing at Veritas Community.
We don’t have all the answers and there’s plenty of times where life gets kind of messy in our community. I really hope other people from our community can share stories from time to time on the messiness of life in community so I’m not the lone voice here. But the benefits, the peace, and the acceptance that we’ve experienced through this community has far outweighed and even helped us navigate the messiness of life. I can’t think of how I’d want to live life differently.
Do I want to be alone sometimes? Sure. I’m sitting at a Starbucks right now typing this up. But I don’t want to experience it for long. I see the people around me and wonder, what could they bring to our community and how could they join in on this mission God’s set us on. Life in Community and centered on the Truth is exactly where we want to be.