Rich community

I live in a very rich community.

I mean, we all rent duplexes in an inner city neighborhood where we have no yards and share a gravel, pot-hole riddled alley that frequently is cruised by some shady characters and garbage-divers. We live simply, shop at yard sales and Goodwill and Aldi, share the stuff we have with each other, including food, technology, and office supplies. So we don't really have much in the way of material things, but the closer we get to each other and to the Lord, the less we feel the need for stuff. We brew tea, bake cookies, fix broken things, watch movies, play games, pray, take communion, read books, sing songs, have themed parties, study Scripture, and go on adventures. 

These friends of mine are creative, hilarious, intentional, authentic, passionate, and... beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Their minds, their hearts, their spirits, the way they allow Christ to shine through their eyes and smiles and laughs, is so beautiful. They live so fully and largely and deeply and intensely, that sometimes I am breathless and speechless - they challenge me and encourage me and compel me to live - really live - in unlimited hope, reckless joy, radical love, and mind-boggling peace. Jesus-Life.

My community is rich. But richness has nothing to do with money or wealth or financial stability... and everything to do with the moments we Live and pour Life into each other.

2 Corinthians 6:9-10: "We are unknown to others, but well known to you. We seem to be dying, and yet we are still alive... we are always happy, even in times of suffering. Although we are poor, we have made many people rich. And though we own nothing, everything is ours."