Invited into Community

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

Galatians 6:2

Today as we wrap up our Thanksgiving weekend, I want to remind you of a timeless truth that’s needed in our isolated and broken world: God never intended that we do life alone. We need the love and care of others, as much as others need us to love and care for them. Christian love – that is, love that follows the way Jesus loved – is always sacrificial. Christian love goes out of its way, thinks nothing of going the extra mile or giving the extra effort. Christian love requires and demands something of us. It asks us to give in a way that costs us something.

I thought about this when my friend Kenzie invited me into the kitchen to help her make her Carolina cornbread. Inviting me into the kitchen is asking for trouble. With me sitting in my big, bulky wheelchair, there’s not even room to open the refrigerator door. There is not even enough space for me to turn around – I always have to back out of my kitchen. And so I gracefully declined, but Kenzie insisted, “Joni, I want us to make cornbread together! It’ll be fun, us doing it together.” 

She was right. I read aloud the recipe to her, I told her when the eggs were whipped enough, when the oven was hot enough, when the batter was mixed enough, and how much to pour into the muffin tins. All the while, we joked and laughed. I felt as though I were doing the baking that day. It was me, simply borrowing Kenzie’s capable hands (and her mother’s recipe!).

Kenzie hails from the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and she is quite the cook. Her part of the country is southern-sweet and famous for its down-home cooking. One bite of that creamy cornbread is – as Kenzie put it – like “getting hugged by your southern grandma!”  My young friend could have easily whipped up the cornbread without nearly tripping over my wheelchair, but as we split the baking tasks between us, we saw a little bit of Jesus in our joy of friendship. Carrying each other’s burdens shined light on the love we each had for our Savior.

So, as we close out this Thanksgiving season, look for ways to extend the graceful spirit of this heartwarming week into the lives of others – others like me who have disabilities. Invite the elderly, the single parent, the widow in the apartment next door, or the college student far from home; invite them into community with you. Joys are multiplied when burdens are shared – it’s something Jesus would want you to do.

Pray with me: Thank you, Lord, for how you have created us to need others and how that opens the door to community. Our world is filled with loneliness and brokenness, so please open my eyes and my heart to the needs of those around me – help me to create community where there is none, and thank you for the grace to do