What Gifts Do You Bring To This Community?

I really want to build off of the last topic of the week, “Why Are You Here?,” by fostering a conversation of sharing our interests, professional career goals, and other gifts that we bring to this community, understanding that its our gifts that make this community supportive and transformative. All of us are on our own paths and have arrived here to refuel and continue journeying together. What gifts or interests do you bring to this community? Where are you going with these gifts?

The gift I bring is an eagerness to initiate conversation around our individual religious, personal, professional, and academic formations. I think that the gifts we have emerge not merely through our articles we post, but the engagement on them and through them after they are posted. There are so many moments where the transformative power of engagement and collaboration can be seen on State of Formation, where people move beyond sharing their own posts to meeting another co-journeyer and engaging with them in constructive reflection and mutual growth.

There was a great example of this from a week ago. I hope you were able to read, “Worthy is the Cat: Reflections on Feline Mortality and Psychological Mercy” by Rebecca Levi. This is a deeply personal article on the impending loss of her beloved cat. It is a heartfelt reflection on the fragility of life, the importance of mercy, and the power of love to sustain us through times of loss. The comments on the post created a post within the post, as many Contributing Scholars shared their sympathies, offered their own related stories, and built a community of support around Rebecca. Libby was put to sleep shortly after the commenting began and it is evident that the support of the State of Formation community helped in making Rebecca feel a little more supported and cared for in a time of great sadness. This, to me, is an example of the beauty of what community looks like at State of Formation, about what gifts we all have to share with one another as we grow as religious and ethical leaders.

Next time you read an article, consider sharing a gift of your own. You may never know how deeply meaningful that gift might be for another person. Your gifts are valuable and this community is grateful that you have brought them to share on your ongoing formation and transformation.

Peace be with you all,

Nic Cable

Director of Community Engagement

(Photo used from “Worthy is the Cat: Reflections on Feline Mortality and Psychological Mercy” by Rebecca Levi)

2 thoughts on “What Gifts Do You Bring To This Community?”

  1. Nic, I’ve been mired in finals or I would have responded to you earlier–but I just wanted to say, thank you so much for this!

  2. Hey Rebecca! Thanks for commenting! Finals have been crazy for me to. I am curious about what your response might be to this idea of gift bringing in this community. I know you have already brought a lot to people here, especially in your recent post about Libby. What are some other things you wish to share with the community? I am curious how your art plays into your spiritual identity and how that gift may be able to be shared with others here. You know posts don’t need to be filled with words… 🙂

    Peace to you,
    Nic

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