Every Thursday, I drive through the back roads of town, park outside of a three story enchanted-looking house, and climb the stairs to the third floor apartment.  In that space, I meet with a familiar group of friends.  After catching up on the events of the week, we settle into a discussion related to a certain Bible passage, usually lingering over the questions that draw us in the most.  Presently, my friends and I are considering the book of Proverbs and discussing its meaning for the individual living within her or his community.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, we have been unable to ignore the pervasive theme of the adulteress in the first several chapters.  But in recent weeks, our discussion on this topic has led us in a direction that we did not expect.  

Instead of analyzing the intricacies of deception or critiquing the ill judgment of the one allured, have we asked ourselves, “How can the church help stem the tide of relational brokenness that we see in the world today?”  In response to this question, one group member noted the intense feelings of loneliness that persist among singles in particular.  

“Loneliness seems to lead many into relationships that either do not last or are unhealthy.  If only we could meet the loneliness of singles, maybe things would be different.”  Another group member, happily married, said, “ Single people aren’t the only ones who get lonely.  Married people are sometimes lonely too.  Loneliness doesn’t go away just because you marry the person you love.”  With this comment, all breathed a collective sigh of understanding.  We were all beginning to see two things more clearly: Human beings, despite their relational status, cannot escape the ache of (at least occasional) unwelcome solitude.  At the same time, one’s relational needs are never fulfilled through only one individual.  Made for God and living on earth, individuals need an entire village in order to keep walking by faith.  

Our conversation that began with the adulteress continued for a long while.  At the end of the night, the group had not solved all of the world’s problems, but it had, at least, considered some of the ways in which we could be salt and light to one another and to those that we interact with day to day.  We named different ways of creating space and time so that we could be part of one another’s lives and invite others in too.  Our list, so far, is short, but we trust that it will grow.  We ended the night with prayer:  prayer for one another, prayer that God’s love would extend outward to our visible world, and prayer that the brokenness that we now see would one day be bound up and healed.  We know, by grace, that none of this is impossible through God.  And so for this we labor, just as we watch, hope, pray, and wait.