Hebrews 10:24-25 – And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Gratitude Day 929

It was an unusual way to step down from his post. But one that so aligned with the way he handled his role while he served.

“As I finish my tenure as Surgeon General, this is my parting prescription. My final wish for all of us: Choose community,” wrote former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy in early January 2025. As the nation’s leading public health spokesperson, Murthy reflected on his two-term tenure as the U.S. Surgeon General. In a 32-page prescription, Murthy shared what he has learned about the struggles facing individuals and the U.S., based upon hearing from thousands who shared their stories while he served in this role.

Trained as a physician, Murthy reiterates a message that I believe in deeply. Murthy believes health encompasses the whole person and not just the physical being. I say it a little differently, in that we cannot separate our physical wellbeing from our mental, spiritual and emotional wellbeing. All must be held in harmony or tension. One area affects the other areas. None can be separated from the rest.

This is the wisdom Murthy has embodied throughout his service as the U.S. Surgeon General. It’s one of thoughtful, careful guidance shared in such a way that is understandable and relatable. He uses the simplest of concepts to convey his deeply held thoughts.

“To build community requires love,” he writes. “Love not as sentimentality, but as a commanding force with the power to build, strengthen, and heal. Love as generosity and kindness. Love as hope and grace. Love as courage. The love required to build community must not be reserved only for close family and friends or those who share our beliefs and life experiences; it must also be extended to neighbors, colleagues, people of different backgrounds, people with whom we disagree, and even people we consider our opponents. It requires recognizing something deeper and more fundamental that connects us.”

Please read this paragraph again. Maybe a third time. Amazingly, these words seem somewhat similar to what a young preacher shared about love over 2,000 years ago. Words that we say and believe but find much harder to implement.

This is the wisdom in Murthy’s words: he gets to the very core root of what draws us together as people. Love. It’s the one emotion and feeling we all desperately yearn and want more than anything else. And yet, it’s often the one that we find ourselves questioning the most.

How do I love someone who is different from me? Has a different background? Looks completely different from me? Doesn’t understand my background or what makes me tick? We spend so much time focusing on what is different from each other that we fail to see our deep need for love as the one thing that binds us all together.

Murthy takes it a step farther when he says that the unhappiness currently ailing many Americans is caused by the erosion of our sense of community. “With every conversation, I saw the stakes more clearly: The fracturing of community in America is driving a deeper spiritual crisis that threatens our fundamental well-being,” Murthy wrote. “It is fueling not only illness and despair on an individual level, but also pessimism and distrust across society, which have all made it painfully difficult to rise together in response to common challenges.”

Murthy feels building community is crucial because it wards off the detrimental effects of loneliness. He stated it this way: “Today, we are faced with a profound choice: Do we continue with the status quo, marked by pain, disconnection and division? Or do we choose a different path — one of joy, health and fulfillment, where we turn toward each other instead of away from each other; where we choose love over fear; where we recognize community as the irreplaceable foundation of our well-being?”

It is brilliant how he connects a lack of community with loneliness. And challenges us to turn to one another in love rather than letting our differences become the gate that stands in the way. Please note he encourages us to choose a path of joy, health and fulfillment; which he values over happiness.

How is this sense of community created? Again, read his words: “America and the world need a new generation of community builders. A generation defined not by age but by spirit — by a fierce, unyielding commitment to each other and a clear-eyed, full-hearted recognition that we are kin, not enemies, and that we fundamentally need each other. We must be that generation.” Murthy implored.

This says to me that our spirit is far more important than our age or experience. A commitment to seeing each other as part of our community is where it begins. In fact, we must be the generation that takes up this call to restore a sense of community.

I get it. There are many times when, like others, I do not feel this sense of community. We draw lines of where we are different than where we are alike. We put conditions on how and who we should love and call it something other than love. We convince ourselves that this is of God, even though a close reading of scripture would disagree with this.

And when this happens, we become discouraged because the sense of community we yearn for seems and feels impossible. We feel let down and decide that being on our own is easier and less hurtful. We give up and convince ourselves that we are better by ourselves.

But are we?

Creating a community where we are loved and extend love isn’t easy. It means making ourselves vulnerable. It may require us to change our thoughts and opinions. This type of community wants us to listen more than we talk. And yes, it’s not always easy to find others who are willing to go there to create this sense of community.

Yet isn’t this what Jesus called us to do? To love those who we might find unlovable? To listen and hear with our eyes and our ears? To welcome all as our neighbors and love them even when we don’t want to?

In a time when it feels like we, as a society, are drifting further apart, I believe our greatest hope is to be committed to a sense of community. Maybe it starts with just a couple other people where you can agree to explore with one another things in your heart and minds. It’s creating space and openness to pause life when someone is lonely and needs a friend. Creating community will only happen when we agree this is something that makes us better together because at the end of the day, love is what holds us together.

As Christians, we already have the most excellent example of community in the Trinity of God. The three persons of God hold each together, to create and express the fullness of God. As human beings, we can’t recreate this perfect community. But we certainly can be encouraged to seek it and try it and not give up on seeing the value of community.

Because, in the end, it’s this community that creates hope for tomorrow. Murthy summarized it this way: “It is up to us to reject the pessimism and animosity of our time and instead choose courage and hope. The choice we make to build community has the power to change lives and transform society.”

Love. Community. A sense of being together. Changing lives. Transforming society.

These are big concepts. Ones that seem impossible or improbable. Yet, these are the concepts that make all the difference. And they are worth it.

For a wonderful conversation between Dr. Vivek Murthy, seminary professor Kate Bowler and Duke Men’s Basketball Coach, Jon Scheyer, go to this wonderful podcast. I think you’ll enjoy it!

Blessings –
Dianne

Lord God – Remove our hesitation to create a sense of community with someone. Encourage us to be vulnerable. Place in our hearts a yearning to discover community and love as concepts that create us to be more of the people You yearn for us to be. May we discover more about love, You and ourselves as we explore how community can change us and reflect more of You in our lives. Amen.

Looking for a bit of daily inspiration? Check out my daily affirmation posts on Facebook and Instagram (Dianne Deaton Vielhuber and Simple Words of Faith.)

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