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Alleluia! Sing to YHWH a new song! Sing praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their God. Let them praise God’s name with festive dance; let them sing praise with timbrel and harp. For YHWH loves the people, and crowns the lowly with salvation.
– Psalm 149

Do you remember the movie “Castaway” starring Tom Hanks?  When his character, Chuck Noland is stranded on a deserted island, he befriends a volleyball and names the ball “Wilson”. Noland is lonely and to keep his mind in touch with everything (like what he holds dear to him)- his human sanity- he names the ball and treats the ball as a person. He talks to the ball, shares his day with the ball- but to him, it is a person. That is his last grasp on his sanity. Basically, he is trying to stop himself from going mad. (play video)

Later, when Noland loses the volleyball- he realizes that he has lost the only link back to his human side and that everything meaningful left for him is gone.  (play video).

The point is that we are humans made for connection. From the beginning of time, we are told in the creation stories that we were made in the plural–God, who is also plural–made humanity to need connection. “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness…So God created humankind in God’s image, in the image of God … male and female were created.”  (Gen. 1:26, 27).

We can’t be human without connection. God made us to be together. And we bring that connection to life in worship, when we “sing to YHWH a new song,” and “sing praise in the assembly of the faithful.” The psalmist certainly understood the intuitive connection and power of the gathered assembly to sing together! This is one of the essential parts of worship that has remained over the millennia.

What other places in your life are you connected to others?
·       Families                                           * organizations/ clubs
·       Church                                             * Fraternities/ Sororities
·       School/ Alumni organizations      * Work Groups
·       Neighborhoods                              * Book Clubs
·       Fine Arts/ Bands/ Choirs            * Volunteering
·       Sports / Teams

If we do not naturally belong to groups, we seek places where we can join and find connection with people who have similar interests. So often when a married couple has been together for a long time and one of them dies, the adult children are shocked when mom or dad finds another partner soon after the first anniversary of their partner’s death. I have been the pastor for families with this dilemma and have counseled the adult children that it is not because their mom or dad has forgotten or has less respect for their deceased partner–it is the exact opposite! It is because of their successful partnership with that person that they are seeking companionship and that they have such incredible loneliness. They need a partner in their lives to feel comforted and whole again. We are made for connection.

Jesus created connection on a large scale–even the thrill that is called “collective effervescence” when people have a heightened experience together. And we know from the research about this phenomenon that the bond created in shared experience of this kind lasts for a good long while. He gave them a gift of feeling part of something bigger even after they returned to their homes, their labor, and whatever circumstances they faced in their lives.

We have all kinds of words to describe this connection we have with one another:

Emotional Synchrony (to be on the same wavelength)
Attunement (to be in tune with each other)
Ecstasy (to know another beyond reason or control)
Think of ways that we connect deeply with one another – deep ways in which we bond:
When a baby is born, we encourage parents to do skin-to-skin time with their newborn

·       Sexual intimacy at its finest

·       Yoga and other meditative practices that enter a spiritual & metaphysical state of being

·       Silent prayer when one practices deep meditation with the Holy

·       The dark night of the soul – while deep and often solitary – it is a desperate search for connection with the Holy

·       Music, art, poetry, theater – all the art forms can cause overwhelming emotive feelings of connection with the audience

·       Holiday gatherings with family

·       Trips down memory lane – through pictures, reunions, parties, and even funerals – cause us to feel deep rootedness with our family

To be known is the deepest human need, I believe–thus the power of connection and the possibility for healing when connection is made. The quote from researcher Brené Brown says it best: when we gather, we can “start to heal the wounds of a traumatized community.” Jesus followers, we are called to make connections. To slow down, to “spend” time, to give our attention. Whether it is feeding those who are hungry physically or using table fellowship to draw people together who are hungry spiritually, socially, or emotionally, Jesus said “do this”.