Quick recap: On Tuesday we met Ruth and Naomi, two widows who had lost almost everything and made each other family. Ruth said, “Where you go, I will go.” Naomi said, “Call me bitter,” and God kept working anyway. God’s hesed, loyal love, showed up mostly through people. Today we get practical about finding your people, especially if community itself has hurt you.
If church was where you got hurt, the idea of “finding community” can feel like being told to walk back into the fire. You might want belonging and brace against it at the same time. That’s not brokenness. That’s your nervous system remembering.
Here are four things to hold this week. Take what helps and leave the rest.
1. Start with one. Ruth and Naomi were a family of two. You don’t need a whole community yet. You need one person you can be honest with. If you have zero right now, your one might start as an online group, a therapist, or a friend you haven’t talked to in years. One is a real beginning. There are lots of people on Substack going through various stages of deconstruction or changing their faith who would also love a friend to lean on.
