My old roommate and still close friend Garrett stay in California for a week. The surrounding events made for an interesting dynamic: finals just finishing, I walked in Fuller's graduation ceremony, my parents were out, and along with Garrett was his two sisters and brother. For the few days that my parents were here along with Garrett, we all hung out, ate dinner together, and even went to the beach together. I must admit that some of it was stressful because I was being pulled in several directions. But the end result was still a fun week.
Every time I hang out with Garrett, I am reminded about what a blessing truly is. We always say that our material belongings are a blessing (and not the privilege they really are), but my friends are my blessing. Steve and Casey are two of my closest friends in my life daily. In my extended friendships are Tyler, Shane, and Jon and my roommates Dominic and J.D. Garrett and Jacob are two of my friends that I also do not see as much but have a continually close connection. This is why I often reflect on how much I loved college. The friends I made are here to stay. I may not see them that much, but I will always remain close to them, love them, and be able to connect with them. As Tyler once told me, every time we hang out, we pick up where we left off. It would be easy simply say that I'm living the past, but I believe it's something else. Steve recently read a book called Urban Tribes. According to my read-headed lover, this book addresses a growing trend in community development. "Urban Tribes" are defined by people who live together in urban settings. They consist of friends made in college and their goal is to merge those friends with the friends they each make at work. While I do not live in an urban area but something between the urban and the burbs, this urban tribe things rings true to my life. I watch a show like Scrubs and see my life embodied in a hospital sitcom. I watch Knocked Up and see myself doing to same silly antics with a group of goofy friends that never bothered to worry about growing up and letting the 9-to-5 change my life. I take hope in the friends I have made.
These are the same friends that have given me a safe haven to be myself in. I don't have to worry about getting married right because it's simply not a priority. And that whole "biological clock" argument is simply insecurity masked in faulty reason. I find that the way I live is closer to a truly biblical community than that of the average American isolated and far too fucked norm. I love having people in my life, daily. The American Dream is often based on the bad theology of individual motivation. Community is often turned into a pleasure rather a necessity. Now that's unbiblical. Anyone who lives their lives in isolation, whether married or single, is not living a healthy life that has a chance at embodying the Kingdom of God. I'm not overreacting on this point either, if we truly want to understand what the Bible says about community, then we have to be able to acknowledge that we have used our own social locations to falsely interpret scripture on several occasions. When we can do this, then we can see that we are not living according to the Bible's definition of church-we're living according to America's.
In closing, I love my friends. I love how they build me up and tear me down. I love that we, together, have been able to hold onto the convictions we had in college. While social justice, real community, and video games are usually trends for the young and impressionable, we have been able to hold onto that fire. Some of us have been able to see it, others have tried and gotten burned, and still others are just beginning. Regardless of which, we are all living more healthy and full lives that can actually cause change in a country that's apathetic, a job that lacks ethical concern, and a church that's bored.
