I'm not sure why I'm posting this, but my best friend from home found this somewhere and sent me this in an email. I really liked the points it made...Just about the dynamics of community and relationship, but also the importance of being able to stand on your own...It comes from a book called "Waking the Dead"
"Be kind, for everyone you know is facing a great battle.
A true community is something you will have to fight for. You'll have to fight to get one, and you'll have to fight to keep it afloat.
Suddenly all those "one another's" in Scripture make sense. Love one another. Bear one another's burdens. Forgive one another. Acts of kindness become deeply meaningful because we know we are at war. Knowing full well that we are all facing battles of our own, we give one another the benefit of the doubt. That's why you must know each other's stories, know how to "read" one another. A word of encouragement can heal a wound; a choice to forgive can destroy a stronghold. You never knew your simple acts were so weighty.
We check in regularly with one another, not out of paranoia ("Do you still like me?"), but in order to watch over each other's hearts. "How are you doing?" But be careful about what you are looking for from community.
If you bring your every need to it, it will collapse. Community is no substitute for God… I realized it was because I was looking to them (community) to validate me, appreciate me, fill this aching void in my heart. Only once in ten days did I take time to be away with God, alone. I was too busy trying to get my needs met through them (community). Which is why community cannot live without
solitude."
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