As the ocean exists in the togetherness of all its drops of water, the spiritual community exists in the togetherness of all its members. Spiritual existence is spiritual coexistence. You cannot make sense of the how or why of being while in isolation. You cannot even conjure up the idea of the Creator when you are alone. Only in a spiritual community is faith guarded undefiled. Devoid of a spiritual community, you have no yardstick with which to measure yourself, never mind God.
Secular society is organized lovelessness. Its members are burdened by the weight of being unable to trust or believe in the compassion of others. In a spiritual society the shared love of God lightens burdens, and there is always someone to trust and someone from whom you can receive compassion. Not belonging to a congregation eventually leads to isolation. Estranged from fellow beings, the isolated person tends to become spiritually impoverished. Unrestrained by the advice, encouragement, teaching, and praise—and even admonishment—of community members, the spiritually disconnected person, like an amputated limb, cannot survive.
Self-isolation is equally harmful to the family and the community. Continuing the analogy above, a body may survive without a limb but it will be handicapped. A community is at its best when all it's members are intact in faith and functioning in spiritual harmony with each other. Spiritual harmony encompasses not only peaceful and soulful existence but also a meaningful existence. Conversely, it is immensely difficult to formulate meaning for your life in isolation. The meaning in your individual life can be extracted only from the meaning of the whole. The Bible says, Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole. (Rom. 12:4)
One important element that the body as a whole has is continuity. As humans, we crave the continuity of the past and our link with the future. Religion unites us in that yearning and promises us eternal and ultimate continuity. Religion is our collective framework, shaping our personal past, present, and future. Religion is our collective philosophy. It anchors our personal convictions and our wondering. In religion, we become part of the continuity of the eternal.
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T. Byram Karasu, M.D. is the author of The Spirit of Happiness
