Before coming to Bowman, my family and I served as Bible translators in Papua New Guinea. It’s a beautiful country! Not only the fauna and flora, but in our experience, the people, too. And one of the most beautiful parts of the Papua New Guinean culture is the tendency to think in terms of community, rather than individuality. What affects one, affects all.
I remember a time when we were worshipping in a village church. During the service when it came time to celebrate Communion, my wife and children were at home because they had not been feeling very well. The leaders who were conducting the sacrament felt that they could not continue, knowing that there was a part of the fellowship not present. They stopped the service and began calling across the deep valley that separated the church building from our house: “Miseri nano eeee!” Beni vayo eeeee! Yosua vayo eeee! Ainee ereno!” “Michelle, Ben, Joshua, come quickly!” It just did not feel right to celebrate Communion without them! They came… and we did! Together!
Bowman is a very tight community, too: what one feels, many feel. That is a very good thing. It helps us live our lives together richly! At our very best, we come together as a healthy, supportive network should: to celebrate one another’s victories; to mourn one another’s losses; to laugh together; to cry together; and in our shared experiences, to begin to heal together.
This is not a normal response. But we are not called to be a “normal” community. As those who are created in the image of God and shaped by the Word of God, we are called to a different way. The Bible encourages us to “rejoice with those who rejoice” and to “mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12:15) That same Word proclaims that healing and wholeness is the very purpose for which God sent His Son, Jesus. (Luke 4:18)
That is our “work,” too, Bowman community! Something very traumatic has happened to a very few families, but the reverberations have been felt throughout our entire community, as if a large earthquake had sent out its vibrations from a small epicenter. Our community, always, but especially now, needs to expend its energies on healing. We do not serve each other best by placing judgments on individuals or families, but by working together to promote wholeness and healing. Like my Papua New Guinea friends, we will not be complete until we are a community who does not feel right about going about our business until the whole community is healed and healthy. If we are to represent our Lord well, we must do all we can to support those affected by this tragedy. And in so doing, because we are community, we will ALL be healed.
Ron Olson serves as pastor at the Bowman United Methodist Church.
