Reconnecting

Years ago I read Kathleen Norris' books, Amazing Grace, Cloister Walk, and Dakota. I do not remember which book I read first. In at least one of these books, Norris makes the statement that one cannot be a Christian alone; a Christian needs to be in community. I have perused these books, but I cannot find the exact quote. However, I remember being puzzled by the statement. What did she mean? How can that be? It has taken me all these years to begin to understand that Christ is to be found in our relationships. Yes, solitude is a gift we need to open, but like Jesus who spent time in solitude, sooner or later we need to be rejoined with others.

Norris' writings opened the way for me to wrestle with the "big" words of Christianity: church, salvation, redemption, communion, resurrection, and just about every other word in the Bible. As I continue to walk with those in long-term care communities, I believe these struggles have helped many of us find common ground. There is no doubt or confusion too big or too small that will not surface in these communities, and together we face them as best we can. My role may be little more than simply stringing these doubts into a lifeline that we tie around our waists and then toss the remaining line upward. The mystery is that it always seems to be caught, and Jesus holds on. There we find ourselves reeled in and held in the embrace that is the living Christ.

Last night, I dreamed I was standing on a vast ocean. I was not walking, but standing. It was quiet. All was gray, including my clothes. I woke, but when I returned to sleep, the dream repeated. When I woke the second time, I did not move for several minutes. The stillness of standing on undulating water, that which seems impossible to stand upon but there I was, I want to remember.

Norris concludes Dakota with a quote from an unnamed monk (she is a Benedictine oblate): "You have to let the place happen to you...the loneliness, the silence, the poverty, the futility, indeed the silliness of your life."

It is there we take our stand.