When I was five years old, my family took a trip to Florida, and I made a friend at the hotel pool. Her name was Maria. She spoke no English. I spoke no Spanish. We played day after day for several hours, speaking to each other without understanding specific words but comprehending what the other was communicating. We shared the common language of play.

I sat in an international airport recently and watched three families of children nearby. Each family found ways to entertain themselves, not interacting with the children nearby. Each family spoke a different language. One of the children imagined the lines in the floor as a classic game of hopscotch and began bouncing across the floor. In less than one minute, all the children in the area were lining up to play. They found the common language of imagination.

While sitting on a pier in the Caribbean, several families gathered to snorkel and swim with a variety of fish. Families from Germany, United Kingdom, United States, and Canada exclaimed over the beauty of the experience of getting up close and personal with colorful creatures of the sea. One man began to sprinkle the water with crumbs of a cereal bar, immediately drawing the attention of dozens of fish. The man suddenly shrieked as one of the fish nipped at his chest, spurring laughter among everyone, regardless of the language individually understood. We shared the common language of laughter.

Some experiences transcend the need of verbal understanding. The barriers we think withhold us from shared experiences crash to the ground as we play, imagine, and laugh together. We also stand shoulder to shoulder as we mourn through tragedy, give through service, and celebrate in triumphs. We can use differences to divide, or we can use differences to motivate us to find common ground.

To find common ground, we must be willing to shift our habits, comfort, and self-centeredness. We don’t need to relinquish ourselves completely; we simply need to find what aspects of ourselves and our own lives share similar qualities with others.

God brings people into your life for the purpose of sharing. He intends for you to experience life alongside others, and sometimes – often times – the experience of community is outside your comfort zone.

Pop the bubble you’ve built around yourself. When you do, you’ll likely discover play, imagination, laughter and more waiting for you – to experience with others.

We all share in Christ if we keep till the end the sure faith we had in the beginning. Hebrews 3:14