From Jerry Sittser and his book “The Will of God as a Way of Life”:
How can we discover God’s will for our lives without guidance and support from a community? Huge corporations move employees around with little consideration given to friendships, family, neighborhood and church. Young adults fall in love and marry with little parental involvement. Sometimes parents do not even meet their future son- or daughter-in-law until the decision to marry has already been made. People choose a vocation without receiving advice from friends and family who know them best. We become like a goose trying to fly south without a flock to fly with. No wonder we lose our way so often.
. . . .Our struggle to discern God’s will for our lives reflects the fragmentation and isolation we experience. We make decisions in a vacuum because we lack consistent contact with people who know us well and give us sound advice about our strengths and weaknesses. Participation in a community can change everything. It certainly did for Anne Lamott, a novelist and essayist who lives in San Francisco. Her journey to faith was about as difficult as crossing the Himalayas bare foot. She was an alcoholic and drug addict and she lived on the edge for years. She found her way to faith through the influence of a little church consisting mostly of poor and marginal people. She wanted her son to grow up in the loving environment of this church, too. So,like many parents do with their children, she made him go. The reason for her action was simple, and it says a great deal about the sense of community that most people seem to miss. So like many parents do with their children, she made him go. The reason for her action was simple and it says a great deal about her sense of community that most people seem to miss.
“The main reason is I want to give him what I found in the world, which is to say a path and a little light to see by. Most of the people I know who have what I want—which is to say, purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy—are people with a deep sense of spirituality. They are people in community, who pray, or practice their faith.. . . .They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their of their own candle; they are part of something beautiful.
~Jerry Sittser, The Will of God as a Way of Life (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530, 2000,2004), 50
* Posts with a preamble asterisk * are for a more general audience and not specific to teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
