A question that most often doesn’t receive a good enough answer. We are too comfortable to get vulnerable. It’s a lot of work. It can be embarrassing. But then again, that is the point.
We are all carrying different weights. We are all hurt. We have different but very personal longings. Rest. True rest. Community. Communication at a deeper level. Family hurting. Sickness. Gratitude. Naming our deepest desires can seem impossible. Sharing what we want god to do for us, boldly, naming it with faith, among witnesses, among friends, that is a gift.
We have walked far and wide. And we have made good friends. But there is something special about the history we share. We have at times hurt each other, unintentionally. We have cried together, laughed together and we always showed up. The rabbi always showed up. We learned from the best. God always shows up, even when we don’t see it clearly, or the way we expect it. Showing up is one of the highest forms of love friends can show. It’s service, it’s quality time, it’s words of affirmation physical touch. It is a gift.
We don’t fully understand how and why we have this gift of a remnant community. But we keep showing up because we value each other and we believe in something more than our limited understanding of mundane.
12 people from across the world got together to hike in the Austrian alps, hut to hut, pushing our physical limits, our social comfort. Each person can pursue their own community showing up. Faithfully.