Talking to myself...

Yes, that's what I do when I'm cleaning the bathroom, sweeping the floor, sorting dirty laundry, emptying the trash and generally trying to catch up from several weeks of work activities and sad times in the family that contributed to my being behind with everything. My choice this morning in the midst of this was whether to make a point of attending church for the first time in weeks, or to try to get a few things back to normal in my house, so that I can feel a little peace in that part of my life. This time, I chose the latter.

That led me to thinking. What is a fair response to expect from our faith community when we are missing, or have lost a loved one? And when we have not kept this to ourselves, but have let them know about a loss. Perhaps on the large scale, one might expect very little, especially if one is discreet and does not broadcast his life from the streetcorner - but how about on the "small group" scale? My current experience is that my expectations must be way too high. The model I was shown growing up is not what I'm confronted with now.

The easiest solution then, I guess, is to expect nothing. But then, the question becomes, what is the purpose of being in a faith community? If each person in the group is acting only out of concern for himself and his given set of friends, then what becomes of the group at large - those who have been active and steadfast, but have ended up on the periphery. If the "value" of the periphery seems less, is it time to move on?