Paris has long been a magnet for writers and artists from all parts of the world. Many have rubbed shoulders at a famous bookshop on the Left Bank called Shakespeare And Company, sometimes even being provided with bed and board. The Canadian writer Jeremy Mercer has written of his experiences there in the early 2000s. He tells of one evening when he and some arty friends converged on a cafe called Polly Magoos:
‘In a place like Paris, the air is so thick with dreams they clog the streets and take all the good tables at the cafes. Poets and writers, models and designers, painters and sculptors, actors and directors, lovers and escapists, they flock to the City of Lights. That night at Polly’s, the table spilled over with the rapture of pilgrims who have found their temple. That night, among new friends and safe at Shakespeare and Company, I felt it too. Hope is a most beautiful drug.’
When I read that I have a sense of what we are all missing at present. I mean we may be getting along fine with our books and dvds and gardening and other projects. Not to mention Skype, Facetime and Zoom. But the loss of real community cannot be denied. They say that when this is all over many more meetings in the spheres of business, politics and religion will take place electronically. I don’t know. Meetings can be wearisome and sometimes they end with us not clear as to what exactly has been achieved. But the kind of meeting described in Polly’s where people are not just together but experiencing and appreciating their togetherness would be a great loss to our humanity.
A friend told me that he once went to a meeting of a General Assembly Committee with the sole intention of having a fight with the Convener. But as he put it, in the course of a heated discussion ‘our souls touched’ and the problems were resolved.
I would hate to think we would ever lose that kind of experience, souls touching, not just to resolve problems but to be deeply together, sharing dreams, coming to understand one another. There are some Christian traditions where Sunday worship is known as ‘the Meeting’. And that really is what worship is at its best, a coming together of God’s people, souls touching in the presence of the Risen Lord.
This was the quality of life experience by the first Christians. In this description notice how often the word ‘together’ appears:
‘They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.’ (Acts 2: 42-47)
In a sense these people were reflecting the God they worshiped. The God who had revealed Himself as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In the Godhead there is community, togetherness.
We don’t know when but these days will pass and life will be changed forever. But we will still have one another, the Holy Spirit binding us together, the Word strengthening us and the Kingdom to work for and look forward to. As the Queen has said: ‘We will meet again.’
