I'm going to paraphrase, 'cause I don't remember exactly how it went, but Lauren F. Winner wrote something like this:

Profound conversations aren't the point of community. We don't form relationships and community so that someday we can have profound conversations with people. The relationship in itself is the point. Sharing hundreds and millions of experiences like Scrabble games and walks in the park and flapjacks in your best friend's kitchen are, in fact, what it's all about. They're not necessary nuisances, stepping stones along the way until you can finally get to the point where you can talk about God and your deepest fears and why we should or shouldn't have sex and whether either Calvin or Arminius have it right. Those hundreds and millions of shared experiences are, in and of themselves, the point.

How important it was for me to be reminded of that this week, in my interactions and conversations with so many people! Community is the point. Sharing our lives with God and people, on all possible levels and in all possible areas of our lives, is the point. Sharing a cup of tea, laughter, tears, a hug, a meal, a movie, are not necessary hurdles that we need to get over so we can get to "the good stuff" - they're part of the good stuff. They're the very real arenas in which community is lived, where love is fleshed out! Profound conversations are an added bonus, an extra that is sometimes thrown in along the way, a privilege that is gained because we are in community. But love that binds us all together in perfect unity - that is the point. Word. Thanks for the reminder. 'Cause sometimes I forget.