Getting together carries an inherent purpose. We do not need to plan things most of the time, we just hang out with people we know and like. When we do, things happen! The range of gatherings is wider than you would think, and the purposes more narrow.
Most of the time, I get together with friends for one of two reasons. Either I want to just hang out, or I need to get some work done. It is easy to forget that there is a purpose to hanging out for several reasons. It is too easy to do it. I really enjoy the time. Everything and nothing appears to be on the agenda table. My friends accept me just as I am. We share something that strikes a mutually resonant chord and usually becomes a topic of conversation.
Usually I forget the reason we got together because I enjoy the time so much. We laugh, and discuss. We disagree and affirm. We just hang out or work to get something done together. Our agenda is relationship, plain and simple, though I doubt we could easily label it most of the time.
Ironically, work experiences follow the same pattern day after day. People get together with too many things needing to be completed. While they come with differing views on how to get to the goal, there is a shared purpose for being together. We may forget, however usually we know that working together will accomplish more than we could ever do individually. We have agendas, if only to spend the time.
Sharing the walk with others on a spiritual journey is a gathering about which we often do not think. We assume that their walk is fundamentally different from ours. We know that we are on a superior track. We think they would not understand or appreciate our doubts and unknowns.
We all thirst for God. Each of us carries doubts, fears, and uncertainties that threaten to overwhelm. The answer comes through experience. “People of all nations, celebrate God!” (Romans 15.10) This is a great start.
