First Baptist Glens Falls

Over the summer, a small group gathered weekly to read and discuss two books: Martin Luther King Jr’s Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community and Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together. Rev. Kathleen Davie participated in these discussions and shares the following reflections. — CJG
I have been attending two sessions a week, one on Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the other on Where do we go from here? – Chaos or Community by Martin Luther King. Both books emphasize the imperative that humanity was created for community and each book in its own way has as its organizing principle the words of Jesus about Community.
Martin Luther King’s whole philosophy was developed from the idea of the community of humanity’s need for each other – whether they are black or white, or red, or yellow – they are all human beings.  Their differences are minor!
Life Together was written to help a group of people in Germany, mostly Pastors, during the years leading up to the Second World War, to become a Community of Believers and to realise how to live together. How their faith could be worked out through their individuality in the practice of certain behaviors –  some behaviors being carried out with others: such as worship, work, study, prayer, silence, and all of them realizing God as their focus. Although Bonhoeffer’s work was geared towards the underground community of pastors during the war, it certainly has implications for our churches. Read more: Reflections on Life Together