The Deepest Reality is Friendship

Ordinary Time in the Summer

A while back I listened to an interview with Rhaina Cohen, author of a fascinating book, titled The Other Significant Others: Reimagining Life with Friendship at the Centre. In this interview, the host Ezra Klein recalls asking one of his own friends about the trade-offs involved in deciding to help arrange and live in an intentional co-living community. His friend’s reply stuck with him: she framed the trade-offs involved in her move in terms of deciding to choose the default in her life being the problems of community as opposed to the problems of not having community. She said she wanted the problems of connection rather than the problems of how to find that connection.

To choose the problems of community over the problems of not having community: to the degree that we have access to this choice, this strikes me as rhyming well with Jesus’s words in our passage about love’s ultimacy being found in the willingness to lay down our lives for our friends. Perhaps a starting place for translating this call of Jesus is to consider the places in our lives where we have the opportunity to make that choice: to choose the ‘problems,’ the inconveniences and vulnerabilities of community, over the ‘problems’ of disconnection. And as we keep making this choice, where we can, over time, perhaps the ‘problems’ of community won’t go away exactly, but perhaps they might become just a little more navigable—the flotsam and jetsam of feeling our way down the flowing stream of friendship towards the deep end of joy, of flourishing.

And finally: as we discern where greater depths of connection and friendship might be chosen and entered into in our lives, there is the deepest reality always present with us: the reality that all our pursuits of friendship and connection and flourishing take place within the abiding flow of loving connection that is God: God as Creator and Ground of Being; God as Incarnate Son; God as Life-Giving Spirit.

— Madison Friesen

* You can read about the book Madison referred to here, at the website of The Marginalian.

Invitations to reflection this week:
Who have been the formative friends in your life? 
What gifts have these friendships given you?

A nudge to action: 
Reach out to someone this week, perhaps an old friend whom you’ve not been in touch wth recently, or a new friends you would like to see some more. (Hmm, maybe invite them to a fun evening at Kingfisher shimmying to marimba music, or attending Christie’s queer voices public speaking club? See below.) 

Remember:
Bring something to post in our Friendship Gallery—photos of friends, quotes, poems, prayers, short stories, art—it’s all welcome!

Worship Calendar

Location & Zoom. We meet on Sundays at 15639 24 Avenue, Surrey. Zoom is offered if you cannot attend in person. Zoom link. Meeting ID: 831 1690 9977 password: 753319

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Blogs
Catch up on Anne’s recent blogs under “News” on our website, southpoint.ca

New to Southpoint?

At Southpoint, it all begins with God’s love. Just as a plant grows, it receives sunshine, so we grow as we receive God’s love. At Southpoint, we are growing in our capacity to love God, ourselves, one another, and Creation.

We seek to be a community of grace that is intentional yet organic, spacious yet authentic, grace-filled yet accountable. * We are fully welcoming. *

We encourage relationships rather than run programs, yet we recognize the importance of intentionality and structure as we nurture life together.

As a community, we seek to put our love in action. We value helping out on Sunday mornings, sharing food, and showing up in hard times. We keep our church life simple so folk have time to build relationships with family, friends, and neighbours. We encourage folk to serve in tangible ways within the wider community. We rent space rather than own a building, allowing us to do more with less, supporting missions at home and abroad.

Curious to know more?

These six slides express what motivates our ministry (best viewed on a monitor). Here’s the bio of our Pastor, Rev. Anne Baxter Smith.

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