Warp and weft

Our communities are woven from very diverse people, but it's that very variety that makes them so beautiful. We all help bring out the beauty in each other. In these days, it's easy to focus on the discomfort and the problems, but there are so many things to bring us joy. One of the things which brought me joy today was my church. Our building may not be hosting much these days, but if you think a church as God intended it is a building, you're mistaken. A church is a community of people who love Jesus. This morning we held our first church service on Zoom and YouTube with a variety of us contributing different elements of the service from our homes. I did the second intercessory prayer slot after sharing some stories from the global church. The first one was led by one of our NHS workers, who led prayer for them. We did the usual after the service cuppa in Zoom breakout rooms, which was a great way to get to catch up with a few folk. We have some older folk who don't have internet, so for them the audio from the services was being burned onto CD within a few hours of the service ending. It was great to have members of the church family in other countries able to join us too, which isn't usually the case. Our tech team are complete legends!
Another community I am part of is the Oxford Hub, and it's been great to see all the messages on our street's WhatsApp group, so many people prepared to help friends or strangers with shopping and deliveries. 
A memory flashed up on Facebook today, a lovely photo of my Mum, Ranza and Callum. I am so blessed to have been raised by a woman who invested so much in her community and encouraged myself and my sister to do the same. She would have been so proud of everything that my sister and her husband and all at the Lochranza Centre are putting in place to support that community. Sadly I will have to follow it on line as I won't be going up there for some time.
As a Christian I believe that God created us for community, to be in relationship with him and with each other. Whether you share my reasons, I very much hope that you will agree that no matter what pressure the coronavirus puts on us, let's value our communities and act to protect them and the individuals which make them up.