Community
The dictionary has several definitions of “community.” The most basic is a group of people living in the same area. But it also means a group of people with common interests, linked by a common belief or profession. Finally, it can mean a gathering of those people to support or encourage each other.
The common theme is people (plural) and a sense of commonality.
A community is different than a group. I’ve worked at the same place for almost 18 years. I like the people I work with and I even occasionally socialize with them. I am an integral part of the group, but there isn’t that added intangible that transforms a group into a community.
The importance of a physical community is very real for our bodies. As a species, we require a physical connection with other people – including places where we can gather to simply interact. Without others, we start to feel alone and afraid and things spiral downward from there.
But the world is changing. The planet’s ongoing shifts to a higher vibration have people becoming more and more aware of themselves as spirit. With that awareness, there is an emerging (and growing) impulse toward energetically based spiritual communities. Ones where you can participate without going off to live in an Ashram.
I have found that acknowledging – out loud – that I am a part of a spiritual community assists others. It helps them recognize and release old fears about spirituality. This includes the belief that being seen as a “spiritual person” is unsafe – that it equates to being an outcast or hermit or otherwise deemed “weird.”
Yes, our bodies need time and space and physical connections. However, the “magic of technology” allows us greater flexibility for accomplishing this. One of COVID’s gifts is that we are now much more comfortable with distant ways of connecting. Accommodating our body’s need for a physical way to reinforce our spiritual connections. This allows spiritual community which allows relationships and networks to grow quickly over great distances.
I am grateful that CDM is one of these spiritual communities. It is a place I can go for support and fellowship – in person or from a distance. I know that my deliberate choice to participate with CDM strengthens the community for all of us.
