Click here to read a recent article about the Rainbow Family
I've seen members of the "Family" off and on the past couple weeks as they have been traveling into our area by foot, car and old school bus to reach the forest and it has gotten me to thinking. Scary I know...but still true LOL!
What is drawing these people together? Is it drugs....they can do drugs any where. Is it chanting...they can chant any where. Is it "praying"...they can pray any where. Is it sex...they can have sex any where. I think it is community and unity. They are gathering together as a community with a united goal of praying for world peace and love. Now don't get me wrong...they are totally whacked in my book but if you look past their whacked-outness, I think there is actually something there for us to learn.
Everyone wants to belong. I don't care who you are...what you believe in...or where you came from...you want to belong. David sang about it in the Psalms:
How good and pleasant it is when brothers live in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. Psalms 133:1-3
The dictionary defines unity as:
1. The state or quality of being one; singleness.
2. The state or quality of being in accord; harmony.
3. a. The combination or arrangement of parts into a whole; unification.
b. A combination or union thus formed.
4. Singleness or constancy of purpose or action; continuity: "In an army you need unity of purpose" (Emmeline Pankhurst).
We, as the human race, long for unity. We want to feel that we are part of a whole, something bigger than ourselves. We want to be attached. The stark reality is that people have taken their own lives because they felt that they didn't belong and were not attached to anyone or part of a group. Belonging and feeling united to someone else is a huge motivator. It fuels cults, peer pressure, teen pregnancy, quick weddings, and a multitude of other poor decisions and actions.
Where is the church in all of this? Are we an "exclusive" club that won't allow others in until they pass a certain test? When the Rainbow Family greets each other they say, "Welcome home...I love you!". Do we welcome people? Again, don't get me wrong, I think it would be off putting to have some total stranger walk up to me and say "I love you" but we should reach out to others with love in our hearts. We should make people feel "welcome" wherever we meet them...whether it's at church or at work or at the grocery store. We need to love people and show Christs love to them.
I feel I need to write a disclaimer here...so here goes...I am not saying to throw caution to the wind or safety out the door and open yourself up or your family up to danger or dangerous people. I'm not saying to pick up the homeless person on the corner and bring them home with you but maybe you could say a prayer for them when you see them on the corner. Or instead of walking by them with your eyes on the sidewalk, look up and smile and say hello. Or instead of assuming that any money you give them will be used for alcohol, offering them some change or a gift card to a local fast food place...they may just really need something to eat.
What if we all reached out to our neighbors? When you come home after work, instead of just opening the garage door and driving straight in and then closing yourself off...what if you parked in the drive-way and walked across the street and shook the hand of your neighbor and said hello? What if you walked a few doors down and offered to mow the lawn for your elderly neighbor? What if you organized a block party and everyone got together for a bbq?
What if we all reached out to people we see in the grocery store? Instead of looking with disdain at the woman with 3 crying kids in her shopping cart...what if you offered a smile and a kind word. The kids will probably keep crying but at least the mom won't feel so alone any more. What if instead of walking by the kids at the front door, you bought a box of donuts, or a raffle ticket, or whatever they are selling? The smile on their face will be totally worth the few dollars it will cost you.
In Matthew 22 Christ states that the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbors as ourselves:
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind". This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew 22:34-40
Now mind you, you must "love" yourself before you can reach out and love others. That doesn't mean you love yourself from a self-centered, puffed up, I'm all that and a bag of chips, mentality but rather you love yourself as a child of the most high God. You were created with a purpose and you are loved by the King. He created you to be exactly you. With that hair, and those eyes, and that smile and those interests and talents and gifts. We, as a society, MUST stop beating ourselves up and measuring ourselves against some imaginary yardstick...God loves us...He created us...and He gives us our purpose! But, that is a whole other blog entry...let's just focus on the whole loving others thing at the moment :-)
I have been struggling a bit with feeling like I belong. I moved from a place I had lived for 42 years to a place where I knew no one except my husband and his family. There are times I long to go back home and feel that sense of community. I would love to walk into a store and see someone I know. Or not have to work up the courage to chat with someone at church but rather just know I can walk up and start talking and they'll be happy to see me. The Rainbow Family has helped me realize that I need to work on helping others feel welcome and that they belong rather than worrying about myself. If I miss a sense of community and unity, then I know that there are others out there who are feeling the same way.
We are not supposed to be a society of singular people...cut off from each other...running from one place to the next. We are supposed to come together in unity and community and purpose. How the world would change if we could just keep that in mind. The Rainbow Family gets it (in a whacked out sort of way) and we should get it too.
We should be showing them and the rest of the world what true community means. What true unity of purpose is all about. It should be an every day thing...not an only on Sunday thing and it should be a feeling we give to everyone, not just to those who are like minded. It's easy to love those who are like us but we need to think of ways, and find ways to show Christ's love to everyone. He created ALL of us...those of us who believe in Him and those of us who don't. We are all His creation and should all be shown His love.
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