I stood before a congregation yesterday and told a personal story from my life. In fact, it’s one that I shared here recently: the story of my skiing accident when I was 25 and how a community came alongside me, rallied, and took care of me on a level that taught me how a community can love a person and care deeply for their body.
In the midst of telling this story, I also talked about the concept of interdependence. Independence is truly a myth. Nearly every single thing we do has other people embedded in the experience, and we are upheld by them.
I shared that when I would come home to eat a bowl of soup later in the day, I could invite myself to be aware that farmers grew the vegetables in my bowl. People picked them. Someone took the container of vegetable broth currently at my house to the store on a truck. Even a simple meal is embedded with contributions from people, and we are upheld within them.
Immediately after that service, I got in my car and jumped on Zoom for a second service. Farm Church, my beloved community in Durham, was having a rainy day, so they were on Zoom, and I wanted to participate in their time together. I listened in the car and occasionally unmuted myself to say hello. Then I took them on errands.
I ended up listening as the community shared stories about identity, belonging, and the choices we make for our lives in the midst of other lives, all while I was doing the most mundane things — walking through grocery store aisles and eventually eating a slice of pizza there..
I found myself thinking that in this day and age, with the easy accessibility of technology, we actually could become more aware than ever that people surround us with their presence, their care, their contributions, and their wisdom nearly all the time, if we will be open to it.
Of course, we also have moments of solitude, as we should. In those moments connect deeply with ourselves, including the parts of who we are, what we care about, what our skills are, and what our needs are. But even then, we are never separated from those relationships.
I’m going to invite myself — and invite all of us — to pay attention more and more to who shows up around our lives, people known and unknown.
–Renee Roederer
