Christina Peters: Communal Prayer that leads to love for community

By
Sion Friends Hugging before Heading to their Worksites
This morning prayer was about communal love and why communal loving is important and what are some of the barriers in why we may not show it as often as we should. I believe that it is our human nature to judge and perfect people that creates an instant barrier to our ability to fully love.

I decided that I was going to spend the morning in the garden again because it is the chore I enjoy most in the morning. It's a way to connect with the natural resources we have been given and with people that are not in my work crew at the service sites during the day. We planted sweet potatoes and the did some weeding.

Later, we went to our service site and we worked and were in service to a lovely homeowner, Ms. Davis. She was extremely nice and so hospitable. She is a retired nurse which I think is really cool. We have a medical conversation about arthritis. We chatted and talked about the shared experience of having aches and pains in our knees. It wasn't until I left Ms. Davis' home that I realized my time with her commiserating over our knee pain that we were being our most authentic selves, a form of communal love.

When we put in the time to really allow people to be their most authentic selves, we have so many more opportunities to heal the judgment and even pain that people around us have experienced. I have come to know that a great deal during my time at Jerusalem Farm.

I am going to strive to live with more understanding and kindness, so I can allow for communal love to blossom.

Peace,
Christina


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Global Ties Movie Night- Mexico

By
Image
  I pulled into the parking lot of the Missouri Innovation Campus on a Tuesday afternoon in July, and, as I did so, I couldn’t help but admire the snazzy building that stood before me. My 2:30 (which ended up being a 3:00, so I was early, a lucky-strike-extra) was a quick meeting with our interfaith programming czar, Clare Stern. We mapped out our event space and checked A/V capabilities for what would be an evening of cinema and civil discourse. So, lots of circular tables, open space for cheesy icebreakers, a linear corridor for our buffet traffic, and fun rolling chairs were in order.  Readers may know that the Kansas City Interfaith Youth Alliance, Faith Always Wins Foundation, and Global Ties KC join forces for our Movie Night event series. Acknowledging that faith-based systems do not exist in a vacuum, our Movie Nights focus on the nonreligious factors that intersect our identities and shape our lived experiences. It’s always a pleasure to share a meal, a mo
Read more

Natalie Rovello: In The Weeds

By
Image
When I recently had the wonderful opportunity to plan my own KCIYA service project, I had two things in mind: I wanted to reach across the aisle from my own Catholic identity, and somehow help the environment in the process. In my opinion, there is one place in Kansas City that encompasses both these ideals: Mitzvah Garden. So the service day was coordinated with the incredible Ken Sonnenschein and his team. For months, I pulled my hair out over logistics - who would show up, how many questions should I write, what do I wear? In mid-September, the time came. I drove to The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah all the way in Overland Park. As soon as we parked, I experienced a wave of relief. I felt it would all go well. Thankfully, it did. We helped the garden prepare for winter by raking up the weed-preventing straw they put over tarps in rows that cover about a quarter of the garden. Then some of our group went to harvest and sort apples while a few others and I took the tarps
Read more