From Global Immersion Team Member Alejandra Ortiz, Tijuana, B.C

After weeks of physical distancing from our communities, we are all struggling in some way. For some, it is the lack of deeper connections, and for others the warmth of being around the table with loved ones. Virtual does not seem enough, but it is all we got for now. We are hosting so many online gatherings that setting up more meetings with those we miss might feel wary. We are at home, cooking 3 meals a day, maybe handling little kids, homeschooling and work, and we are exhausted.

As a Latin American, I come from a community-oriented culture. We do things with other people and look for every reason to gather. Physical distancing is so difficult. We know being alone and isolated is almost never healthy. The fact is, independent of culture and personality, we have been created for community. Our triune God, is a community of love, and we are made in that image. More than ever, we need people who can help us see God in the moments of more frustration, loneliness and hopelessness. Community also helps us to see that it is not all about us. Others need us, as much as we need them.

If you are feeling more frustrated every day, who can you “walk” with, in this season, to share the struggles and offer perspective? If there is deep pain surfacing, who are those you trust to pray for you and guide you? If you are feeling numb, lost or tired, who can offer a listening ear and strengthen you? Who can stand in solidarity with?

Physical distancing is leading many of us inside ourselves, into a rediscovery of who we are, but that complex journey is not meant to be done alone. One of the questions I am asking is: How do we open the space to allow this imposed social distancing and isolation of family units to become transformative and healing, not debilitating and leading to depression? There are no new answers. We need to maintain the tension between silence and solitude, and that of cultivating real relationships and community. Our present moment is not the best environment for either thing. But, will there ever be a moment when things are ideal?

It might be that new ways of community surface in this season or we become aware that living individualistic lives is not sustainable. Many of us experience feelings of fear, pain or deep longing when thinking of community, and some of us need healing in broken relationships. That also comes with the help of others. Wherever we are, we can acknowledge the reality that our deep desire for community is God’s imprint.

May our present and future community weavings be gifts for our healing and transformation.