Image via WikipediaShared paths out of darkness

There are many ways in which the challenges and pressures of Christian living should be shared, and opportunities made for mutual support encouragement, reconciliation and healing in community. There is much scope for re-discovering a collegial or team approach to shared ministry within the priesthood of all believers. The healing power of community and shared living is a resource sorely needed by many in today's world, the busy or spiritually fatigued individual not least of all. Life in community, the presence of conflict and the need for peace, are, of course, the source of many of the stresses of living, but they can also be the key to their displacement and transformation. The whole body is called to be upbuilt in love (Ephesians 4:12, 16).

In what follows, you are invited first of all to review the sources and relative effectiveness of the support available to you in living. To what extent are you finding mutual support and encouragement at present? What needs to happen next to enhance your experience of support, and of the pushing back of the walls of isolation, or conversely, of inappropriate interference in your work?