I’ve come to know that Christ is present when a few people gather to pray and share. It doesn’t have to be two or three – it could be seven or a giant group of people – but in my experience, when people show up together to seek God, God shows up too.

God is also present when I pray on my own, of course, but it’s not the same as praying with a community. Over the years that I’ve been a sister in a religious community, I’ve experienced how present God is when we come together. And since the pandemic time when we couldn’t gather, I feel even more grateful when we can be together. I hope I never take that for granted again.

God Space, too, has shown me how God draws near to us when we gather. Whether it’s Advent Taizé prayer in the backyard or one of our small groups, Christ shows up. Even though we have different backgrounds and different things going on in our lives, there always seems to be a common thread in our sharing, something that resonates with each one of us. When two or three or seven are gathered (in person or online), there Christ is.

Why God is so present in community is a bit of a mystery to me, though. None of my communities is perfect; each of them is made up of people with gifts and limitations, people who are a little holy but also a tiny bit broken (including me), who are sometimes annoying but pretty endearing, like all people everywhere. We humans each have our own odd mannerisms and exasperating habits, don’t we? We assume everyone thinks just like we do, and since we all assume that, we miscommunicate a lot. People hurt each other, accidentally or on purpose. We love well but also drive each other crazy. People are a wonder of God’s creation but capable of so much destruction.

And yet, for some reason, God saw fit to make us into God’s image. What it is within us that images God is sometimes a mystery, but there’s something in each one of us that’s a reflection of the divine. Maybe that’s why Christ is so evident when people gather. When we seek God together, we reflect to each other that which is holy in us. When members of my community describe how God is working in their lives, it resonates with me, and I experience God in them and also myself. When I see care and compassion expressed in my communities, I see how community is not about perfection but about love. Ultimately, no matter how good my private prayer is, I need to experience the Holy in other people. I am incomplete on my own; I need to be in relationship with people. Even though communities are imperfect, God is present in them.

So, I see how people are meant to be in community with each other, in some way. Why, then, is it so hard to find connection and community these days? I think a lot of us are still feeling pandemic aftereffects, and I don’t mean Long Covid. In fact, this spring, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released an advisory about a “public health crisis.” It’s not a virus this time; it’s loneliness. I’ve heard that chronic loneliness can be just as bad for our health as chronic smoking. Wow.

What do we do about that? I’d like to say that God Space is a cure for this — of course I would! We started God Space for the purpose of connecting people and combating isolation. Knowing that Christ is present where two or three are gathered, we started gathering people.  We are certainly not the only community-building organization, and there are many other ones doing great work. And yet, we have a public health crisis of loneliness. God Space, and any kind of community, is more of a tiny light in the darkness than a cure. However, a tiny light in the darkness, surrounded by other tiny lights, is still light, right? The more light we have, the less darkness. I hope so anyway.

And I hope people can be a light for each other, that we can look out for people who seem disconnected and invite them in. We can certainly pray for each other – after all, Jesus assures us that when we present our prayers together, God answers them. Also, when I step back and look at the whole of this Gospel reading, it’s ultimately about relationships and how to communicate and how to reconcile when problems arise. If we can do that well, then we can foster healthy communities that people want to belong to.

I also wonder if feeling lonely sometimes might just be part of the human condition. I don’t mean to dismiss or minimize the crisis of loneliness, because that’s much bigger. I’m talking about the little bit of lonely that most of us feel from time to time. Maybe that’s the thing within us that prompts us to connect with other people. Every time people connect with each other in deep and intimate — and spiritual — ways, we show that we’re not alone. Every time we move toward each other, we push back against the feeling of isolation. And we trust that God is with us. I know for myself too that I need to trust my relationships with people so that I know that we’re connected even when we’re not together. But we do need to come together.

So, community is not an easy answer, a quick fix to a deep problem. However, I still believe that spiritual community is what helps us to foster genuine connection. It just takes work. It means showing up and showing up over and over again. It’s challenging because of the convoluted, incomplete, beautiful, fascinating mess that we all are. But God is in the mess, and God doesn’t mind if we’re a mess. God is present with us in all the ways that we try to connect with each other, and in those moments of loneliness, God’s there too.

For Continued Reflection:

• Have you ever experienced God’s presence when you’ve shared or prayed with other people? What was that like? What was God like?

• Have you ever had an experience of feeling disconnected or isolated or lonely? What was that like? How did you cope with it? Where was God in it?

• And where do you tend to find God the most these days — when you’re with other people? When you’re in solitude? Maybe you could talk with God about how and where you’re finding God, and see what God has to say to you.
  
  

By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Board of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, dancing, and meaningful conversations.