Today’s Reading: Acts 2
Community can be viewed as a group of individuals that are coming together under a common cause or goal. Many times we think of community as our neighborhood. A group of individuals who live together and some sense of peace and tranquility.
As we have grown, the community has decreased with the connections. Many times we can live in the same neighborhood or community and not know who lives next-door to us or who lives across the street from us.
Several decades ago everybody knew who lived next-door and across the street and three streets over. At that point in time, the community had a connection. This is something that we have lost. I have made intentional connections with my community. Not just my neighborhood, but also the schools that my children attend and the sports teams that we participate and engage in.
Just imagine if you do not have connections in your community. How long would you be in a community? How long could you survive? How long would you be able to engage in the community without connections?
In today’s reading, we see a community that has increased and has grown tremendously because of their connection through communication.
“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.””
Acts 2:1-7, 9-11 ESV
During the day of Pentecost, which is the 50th day after the Resurrection, many of the pilgrims and disciples were in a place together worshiping God. The group of travelers were subgrouping into their similar languages groups. This grouping happens with us all the time, we group ourselves in like sub-groups to feel connected. The individuals were in their subgroups and not connecting with the other subgroups. They were all Jewish. They were abiding by the Jewish law and the Jewish customs but their place of origin were all different.
To put into the perspective it’s as if you were at the United Nations and everybody is speaking their native tongue. Then when the Holy Spirit came in, everybody could understand each other in their own tongue without a translator. This allowed them to connect and further their community to a deeper level. They understood each other’s accents and nuances and specific words. There was no confusion. They had a community with the connection.
I love to connect with people. I love communicating and community. I have been given the gift of being communicate with people when I do not know their language. This also fueled my quest and want to communicate with people in their own languages. From early age, in middle and high school I studied French. In college, I studied Japanese and traveled to Japan. In grad school, I studied Spanish and conducted several clinics in Spanish speaking countries.
Currently in my current job I have a lot of Spanish speakers and love connecting with them. One of the nuances that I’ve learned over the last year is each country has a different form of Spanish and they have different words. So even though I know the basic Spanish, each interaction can be challenging to connect.
Because of my passion for my patients in my passion for connecting, I cherish each interaction.
One of things that we have lost is the connection in our communities. One way that we can reconnect is by allowing God to open up our hearts to be connected with the community and be willing to be open to the opportunities. Each day you have been given some opportunities to connect. Will you be willing to open up your heart in your communities and connect with each other on a different level. How much more rewarding and fulfilling would you be with opening your connections in your community?
Be Blessed
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