There once was a family of children who lived well in community. Though children, their ages varied greatly. Though family, their backgrounds were diverse. And while they lived well together, it is not to say that life was always smooth sailing. Life was a shared adventure in work, learning, worship, play, and service. Bumps along the journey were handled and all continued on.
Then, at some unknown point, something began to change but it was a while before any of the children really noticed. What some of the children came to notice was that a few of them were sharing in the adventures of work, learning, worship, play, and service a bit less. But for the most part, the family was still there, just not as much.
As time ticked away, more of the children started to take notice that fewer and fewer of them were sharing life together. There were some children whom none could remember seeing in recent times. Some of their adventures stopped as less and less shared in them. Bumps along the way became more and more difficult to get over and kept growing. Things were not going well for this family of children. They seemed to be losing their way, seemed to be forgetting how to live as a family.
Gatherings which were once joyous and full of life became smaller and smaller, sometimes tense, sometimes gatherings didn’t even happen at all. Joy diminished. Awkwardness grew. Trust broke. They were living life more as individuals than as a family. The children had forgotten. Forgotten why they were a family. Forgotten what family was. But most importantly, they forgot who they were and whose they were.
They forgot they were Children of God, living as one family. The Children forgot that they lived life together because they were a family, God’s family. The adventure of life was meant to be shared and lived together, not as individuals. It was meant to be lived in community… unity in diversity… caring and loving all the family members, all of God’s Children. They forgot. Will they remember before it’s too late? It’s hard to tell. But, HOPEfully…
🙁