|
Since my first weeks of AV Counselor Training & Session 1 of AV Camp 1982, I have witnessed and been blessed with something very special. This “something” is a crucial element of our Orthodox Faith; for it existed before time itself. This “something” is “part of” & “modeled by” our Creator, The Holy Trinity; The Father, The Son (Word) of God & The Holy Spirit. This “something” is “Community!”
This is a word that most likely is not foreign to us. It has been in use for many
centuries. We hear it used in all types of media, and its meaning can vary depending on the context. Thus, this descriptive word, sometimes used as a noun, can be used in a wide variety of ways, most often a unified body of individuals (e.g. those who share hobbies, similar employment, residential location, characteristics, beliefs, the actual place where these individuals live, work, interact & worship, etc.).
What I witnessed on that Friday Evening in June of 1982 as AV Camp Session One came to a close was amazing & truly holy. Campers, Adults & Staff of all ages, many of whom had just met during the last 6 days were in the Dining Hall intermingling, sharing addresses, laughing, singing the music that they had sung all week in St. Ignatius Chapel & the Old Dining Hall, eating Fr. John (Namie)’s famous homemade pizza and of course, hugging & crying (for the next morning was Departure Day). I had never seen anything like this before; it all seemed so genuine. My youth had been very involved in the Boy Scouts of America. We camped, but we certainly didn’t hug & exchange addresses! Over the next few years in Seminary and at many Church Functions, and since then, I have & still do run into my former campers & fellow staff members. Every
single time they reminisced, they sang Hymns from Vespers, Matins & Divine Liturgy, they made sure they were going to be in the same Camp Session that next summer, they laughed, they cried and they hugged; and every single time I thought to myself: “How beautiful to see the Blessings of AV still strong & pure in the hearts of our young people!"
I am also pleased beyond measure to testify to the blessings that Khouria Janet & I have received, as Camper Parents, watching our two boys grow from their Youth into Spiritual Adulthood, as they were nurtured in their parish, their Teen SOYO and the Mystical Home of The Antiochian Village. For many years now, I have been able to describe all of this with one word … yes, that holy word is “Community!”
Our Loving God has gifted us with the need for “Community!” He has even “modeled” this “need” for us; for He exists as “Community,” three Distinct Persons Who share One Divinity, One Essence. We have been made in God’s “image & likeness,” thus we are not created to be alone. Hence the Creation of “Woman,” a “helpmeet” for “Man.” God is Love and He has commanded us to Love each other, even our enemies. Yet, one cannot love without “someone to love.” Thereby, He has given us all that we need to live as His Children ... the Church and Community! When we go against God’s Will, we separate ourselves from Him. Thus, we are not “whole,” we are sick & broken. Our Families, Friends, Church ... our Communities ... are among the first to offer us healing
by bringing us back to God.
If God did not share of Himself by creating the Universe, the Cosmos, and us, He would not be Love, He would be egocentric, self-centered ... selfish. He would be a monster! When He shares Himself ... His Love ... He is empathetic, community oriented ... selfless ... loving “the other,” not just Himself. When one belongs to a Community, one is aware that he/she belongs to something bigger than him/herself. This is good ... it gives us time to mature and grow closer to God.
When I was growing up, I had 32 First Cousins on my father’s side. That, and my Church, was my first “Community.” The news was not instantaneous, and the news casters did not reflect on how we should view the news; they just gave you the facts. There was a true Middle Class, and one working parent could support his/her Family. Children grew up in close-knit neighborhoods with “Family” often across the street or nearby. Families went to Church on Sunday. The world was indeed a simpler place, and one’s “Family” / “Community” helped us feel safe, secure & happy. It served as a buffer as one grew into the world of earthly & adult reality.
Today, that is not the case. Our children grow up too quick, the definition of “family” has been torn down and reassembled to be whatever one wants it to be, as long as it pleases the “self,” and grandparents & relatives live far, far away. The support systems, including the Church, have been cast aside for “things” which actually just fulfill the Nightmares of Satan ... to distract & interrupt us from our relationship with our Father in Heaven.
However, have Faith! Fear not, for many years ago, our Lord gave His Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP (Saliba) a Dream, and he nurtured that Dream. Our Family & our Church Family are the first “Communities” that we belong to, for we are in common union (“Communion”) with each other & The Church. Thus, you & I, and the thousands of others who have been blessed & healed by our Antiochian Village have inherited that Dream of “Community!”
| 
