Midweek: Community

John Donne, an English writer and cleric in the Church of England, lived a life of great ups and downs. In his early fifties, Donne became seriously ill, and was confined to bed, near the point of death. As he lay there day after day, he heard the bell toll out the death of others and, in his isolation, came to realize the interconnectedness of all our lives and our deaths. 

We are part of the same race, the human race, and like it or no, we have a responsibility to one another. 1 John 3:16-18 declares, By this we know love, because He (Jesus) laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 

What do you have that you can be sharing with others? As Christians, the most important thing we can share is Jesus, but the resources and talents we are given are often meant to bless others as well.   

John Donne came to realize he was just as desperate as the next guy, that his life was just as fleeting as others, and that we are a community. It is with his thoughts I leave you today.

"No Man Is an Island"

No man is an island,
Entire of itself;
Every man is a piece of the continent, 
A part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were:
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were.

Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.

~ John Donne