Love Creates Unity: How to Survive Week to Week as a CSM Host

The busy week to come has been thrust upon me. No longer is the identity of my serving group a mystery. Onward I march, throwing myself out of bed, toward the new relationships, of which each is brimming with the potentiality of wondrous stories, of experiences to be had, and the hope of a perspective change. 

But wait. I'm still in love with last week. I mean, it's only been a day since saying goodbye to those whom I shared my heart with. I would rather listen to the opening of their hearts during debrief, then have to try break the awkwardness rising from my new group. I grew accustomed to the personalities of that group. I fit into their way of ministry and we each shaped each other through last week's journey.

The question arises, then, how must I accurately 'do' this week? How am I to be authentic and relate to my new group? Like a broken relationship, there has to be a healthy moving on period; the redefining of myself will happen slowly, for now is the time to allow the brokenness - in all of its pain and fear - to simply exist. Paul defined the group of citizens living in the covenant community of Colossal as people who are one in the Messiah, one in Christ. And if this is true, if the lives who shared this sacred space together last week are one in the Messiah, then the present moments behold the same possibilities. 

In Paul's words "love creates unity". Unity - as in the only possibility this week can be like the last is propelled by how much I am willing to love. I must love them through awkward silence during debrief, through early morning breakfast setups, and the voiced concerns of weariness. I am required to love them when they do not seem to get the prayer tour, or when the flashy lights and glittering skyline of the city captures their attention more than the person they serve food for; only if I pour my spirit into this week, into ten 14-year-olds who are looking for a push in their spiritual journey can our unification, by love, create meaningful relationships. Then, just as the first believers believed, we are one in the Messiah. 

- Kieffer Hellmeister,  CSM NYC Summer Host