Welcome to the “Gather” series. We were created for relationship. Though man may live alone on an island, we are not made to be a lone island. It was not good for Adam to be alone (Genesis) so Go provided Eve and He visited them in the garden. We naturally, by design, gather with others for many reasons. This gathering can bless or can curse depending on with whom we gather and how it is done as well as for what purpose.
We are not meant to be alone. While many religions honor the hermit, such a state of solitude arises not from created nature but from distortions of natural order. Even this relatively rare practice defines itself by the absence of others. This most likely arises from the fact that most people feel something missing when they experience a prolonged lack of contact with others, whether that is the lack of time with family and friends, or even more so when truly without any other human contact. One might argue that they are recharged by short times of solitude, but that fact does not counter the point that such need for quiet rest comes after the benefits of relatively longer times of gathering with others.
When examining the necessity of gathering with others, some aspects of life are only possible in the midst of gathering. While one may work alone for the sake of one’s own needs and goals, work’s fruits are multiplied when the gathered work together by the volume of what is produced and the number who receive the benefits. While many games of Solitaire allow one to enjoy time alone, again we see that gathering magnifies the joy of games which can grow in complexity, in competition, and shared enjoyment as well as memories. As one more example, while many have been ensnared by the lure of self-love, the love of others has both a command of God and a tangible pleasure when practiced. In these aspects of life in our world, gathering with others offers opportunities for the fullness of life which solitude cannot begin to provide.
Very likely, such a foundational necessity of gathering arose in the Garden with God’s creation of man as good yet not good in being alone. With the creation of Eve, Adam had a helpmeet who not only walked in the garden with him but would be the bearer of future mankind through birth. In a sense, God did more than add 1 plus 1, but set forth a pattern in which man and women would bear a society of mankind to fill the earth. The gathering did not end there alone, however, in that God visited them in the garden and walked with them and talked with them. Adam, Eve, and God gathered, and it was good.
A discerning observation of present humanity supports the assertion that most of mankind possess a natural drive towards gathering. Most consider it somewhat unnatural to completely shun social contact with others. Such gathering provides opportunities for pleasure and joy as mentioned earlier not available to the one in solitude. Those who shun social contact most often have experienced the dark side of gathering when it was done for the sake of harm rather than good or done inappropriately.
This series on “gathering” will consider these truths and much more. Though we must always begin with the “Doc-sy” of what is true and right, followed by the “Prac-sy” of individual daily choices, we inevitably get to considering how we “Gather” which is our present focus. We will look at the good and the bad, comparing it to the good and bad of the past, considering what a true ideal of gathering might be, with all of this taken in the context of the church, the community, the family, and in various settings. We examine how we gather and how we should gather so we can move towards the most fruitful and beneficial gathering today before our Creator.
Continuing this Foundations Series (click link below):
The Changing Reasons We Gather – Part 1
The Changing Reasons We Gather – Part 2
True Gathering by a Different Standard – Part 1 (coming soon)
True Gathering by a Different Standard – Part 2 (coming soon)
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