We have had a lovely weekend with some friends, talking about church, the future, community- how we have done it, how we might do it better etc.

It was inspiring to hear stories of people coming together around a central purpose; trying to be faithful to one another and faithful to God. The rest of it- all that overlay of religiosity that we spend so much time worrying about- it all seems so pointless when we remember that we are first and foremost social beings, and the quality of our coming together is measured most by how we are learning to love.

Which brings me back to my own community, and my own flawed attempts at learning to love. All those masked minor irritations mixed in with the deep pleasure of our coming together. Bent and misshapen we may be, but still we are shaped for the purpose of love. I am very grateful for all these people who love me…

I took this photo during our last Aoradh meeting, twenty odd people packed into our lounge to share worship. Our format is all about ‘open table’- people bring something to add to the worship (activity/song/poem/prayer/video etc) and one of us takes the responsibility for bringing it all together. Then we eat. It is simple and often profound.