Jeff's Journal

Bullets begin to fly.

   People are killed and wounded.

We ask why. Tracy's article

   addresses these concerns.

There is one thing, however,

   that we always hear after

   these tragedies.

      He was a loner.

      No one knew him very well at all.

      He had no friends.

      In this case, soccer teamates

         never got to know him.

In the Journey Class on Sunday,

   when this topic came up, I offered

   my thoughts.

Here is the essence what they are:

   Jesus created the church through the Holy Spirit

   so we would have communion and community

   with each other. Without community, friends in Christ

   who help us reflect, question and gain perspective,

   our thoughts and our lives can move into dark places.

We are meant to live together, spend life together,

   suffer together, confess together, worship together.

   love together, wonder about life together.

Alone? Well, we just are not wired that way.

   Whether an introvert or extrovert,

   we need the community provided by the church.

I always worry about the "loner," the one nobody knows.

   This is not because I think they are going to shoot people,

   but simply because God did not design us that way. Every

   one of his teachings presume we are living life together.

   Being alone and lonely in the world is just not the way

   it is supposed to be.

Moving to the deeper places,

Jeff