commune
verb
- Share one’s intimate thoughts or feelings with (someone or something), especially when the exchange is on a spiritual level. “The purpose of praying is to commune with God.” synonyms: communicate, speak, talk, converse, interface.
- Feel in close spiritual contact with. “He spent an hour communing with nature on the bank of a stream” synonyms: empathize with, identify with, have a rapport with, feel at one with.
- Take Holy Communion.
I drafted this post so many times before publishing. I’m not sure why I felt like it was so hard to get my words in order, but even though the word “commune” has been tumbling around my head and my heart for months, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around how to explain it to you. I have such a desire to be connected to people and to my Creator, yet that is something that I struggle with the most. Why is that that our deepest desires are sometimes the hardest things to accomplish?
“We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.” 1 John 1:1-4, NLT, emphasis my own.
I’m trying not to make a long list of resolutions that I know I won’t keep, but I am trying to be thoughtful about what I want out of life and what I hope to find in 2016. A few weeks ago, I saw the word commune randomly in my Instagram feed. It wasn’t in relation to Bible Journaling or One Little Word, but I felt like that was where God meant for me to take it. I couldn’t stop thinking about what that word means. A spiritual exchange. To share spiritual intimacy with one another. I knew that I wanted more of that in my life, both with my God and with the people in my life.I’ve talked here before about how hard friendship is for me. Practically my whole life I have longed for a deep abiding friendship centered in Christ and I am finding that God is materializing many of those in the least expected places. I have formed some amazing friendships in the last year that have filled a void in my life that I never expected to see filled. I have women in my life who I know I can count on to carry me through the lowest of lows and with whom I can’t wait to share my highest highs. Sharing my faith through art has sparked so many friendships with women I may never meet in real life and I am here to tell you that they aren’t any less real than those friends I can invite to dinner or wrap my arms around. Every time God places one of these women in my path, I can’t help but see how He is answering my prayers.Not only was I longing for physical community, but I know that God is calling me to community with Him. We have been attending a wonderful church for almost six months and it is amazing to know we are finally at home. I can’t wait to see where He leads us and how He grows us within this fellowship moving forward. I want to focus my efforts on how God wants me to commune with Him individually, as well. Instead of making pretty pictures in my Bible just to share on social media, I want to immerse myself in His word and really learn what it is He is trying to teach me.
I don’t always have all of the right words to express all that I am learning. I read so many wonderful captions alongside beautiful Bible pages and they take my breath away. For me, one of the reasons the art comes so naturally is that I have trouble finding the words. The artistic process allows me to abandon my lack of words in favor of creativity and community with Christ. I hope that even when my words are few, you will see the expression of my worship in every page. I am so excited to see all that He has in store for us this year.
