To begin, we regard leadership to flow from collaboration, community to be a derivative of trust, and the finest distinction one can achieve is to have facilitated the success of another. At the foundation of these three statements is love. Simply put, love is the foundation of all things – love wins. This is a simple but immutable truth that the Divine continues to show us. We long to model all three of these attributes at Elements[Chicago].

________________________________________________________________

Influence is Flat

Influence & Community

A pervasive characteristic that defines humanity is that we are permeable creatures defined primarily through our relationships with others. We are capable of both being influenced and being influential. From the moment we take our first breath, we are breathing in the influence of others and exhale a breath meant to be purposed to bring life to those around us.

We are to be constantly pouring into those around us. Constantly sharing all that we have. Constantly investing that in them.

The reality is that there is a fundamental connectedness that underscores the human story. Our lives are meant to be lived not as individuals with disconnected experiences but as a shared communal experience. We are to be looking both within us and beyond us. We are to be the practical expression of a Divine love in the lives of those with whom ours intersect. It is here we will redefine the human experience, literally imaging forth a new reality that will permeate and saturate a broken world. That is the power of love.

In the ancient Semitic Scriptures, we find the origin of humanity. Simply put, it says:

Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Epitomized in these words is the fact that we can exist but apart from community, the breath of others, we cannot truly live. Here, Adam found life in the breath of the Divine – he existed yet wasn’t alive. Adam remained but dust of the earth until God, out of His love and desire to have a relationship with Adam, breathed life into him. And this is how it still is. We still find life in others and apart from the life-giving influence of others in the context of a loving community, we so often find ourselves at the end of ourselves. Tragically, in this world, there are countless people that have relegated themselves to mere existence because no one has ever taken the time to breathe life and love into them; into the moments they share.

And this is a great tragedy in the digital age – a world of virtual communities but no real relationship. A world of information exchange but no real connection. A world of simulated intercourse but no real intimacy. A world where we hide in fantasy rather than thrive in reality.

This is why our monthly gatherings are of paramount importance. At Elements[Chicago], we not only want to invest in you, we want to create space for you to invest in others – to weave together a community predicated on the cultivation of the other, finding our lives a life-giving influence.

by: Mike Abramson
The Alchemy Projekt