What has happened to society? How in the last 50 years have we lost sight of true values? It's not just morals that have changed or how responsibilities have turned into rights. My point is, isn't it amazing how people seem to have forgotten the real meaning of words such as community or neighbourhood, thinking of them only as places. Another word where the salt has gone flat is the word church, yet people don't seem to think of the notion of it being misrepresented in meaning as at all unsavoury. People talk of hoping for revivals mostly because their coffers or political clout is getting low, but all we need is a revival of the true meaning of simple terms like those mentioned.
This point in history has seen an upheaval in everyday traditions thanks to lockdowns, restrictions and the like. People complain because their communities, neighbourhoods, or churches have been closed off, people in need may suffer. Yet none of these things were ever meant to be physical entities. Communities were once thought of as communal living where everybody cared for/took care of each other, including enemies in need. A prime example was the early movement of The Way. Think about them. They were in lockdown by oppression for decades if not centuries, but survived because they were a true church of people, a way of life, not an institution or building dependant upon the people. A neighbour was anyone, friend or foe who was to be cared for as we would hope we would be cared for by others, loved as self. A neighbourhood was all those around us. Church went from being a movement of people in their daily lives living the truth of God and loving all as self, to instead becoming an institution controlled by the truths of men using God to justify their governance.
So yes, one can see why the physical meanings given to these words could have caused some to feel grief during the pandemic. However the real meanings of those words shows us nothing should have changed as people still were able to communicate and care for each other in times of need even if they couldn't congregate in some physical 'place'.
© ...timothyu
This point in history has seen an upheaval in everyday traditions thanks to lockdowns, restrictions and the like. People complain because their communities, neighbourhoods, or churches have been closed off, people in need may suffer. Yet none of these things were ever meant to be physical entities. Communities were once thought of as communal living where everybody cared for/took care of each other, including enemies in need. A prime example was the early movement of The Way. Think about them. They were in lockdown by oppression for decades if not centuries, but survived because they were a true church of people, a way of life, not an institution or building dependant upon the people. A neighbour was anyone, friend or foe who was to be cared for as we would hope we would be cared for by others, loved as self. A neighbourhood was all those around us. Church went from being a movement of people in their daily lives living the truth of God and loving all as self, to instead becoming an institution controlled by the truths of men using God to justify their governance.
So yes, one can see why the physical meanings given to these words could have caused some to feel grief during the pandemic. However the real meanings of those words shows us nothing should have changed as people still were able to communicate and care for each other in times of need even if they couldn't congregate in some physical 'place'.
© ...timothyu