But the reverse is also true: Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into the community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ, and thus your solitude can only be hurtful to you. "If I die, then I am not alone in death; if I suffer they [the fellowship] suffer with me" (Luther).
Heh heh, at first I thought the author was contradicting himself, but as I kept reading it made a lot of sense :D So he's saying we should be able to be alone and also be able to be in community. That we're called to be with others, so we should be with others, but that does not mean we use them to alleviate our loneliness b/c that just distorts/destroys the meaning/purpose of the community?
ReplyDeleteI noticed that your quotes are getting shorter. (Well, kind of. 13 and 14 were kinda short too)
By the way, if you'd prefer me not to comment for every blogpost, let me know :P