One year after having that conversation, I moved into an Intentional Community myself. Our unofficial name is "The Cypress House" and we are located in East Palo Alto, California. You, my reader, can't fathom the joy I have experienced from living here. I have so much to discuss, let me start...somehow...
The Preparation
Things began five years ago with reading the Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. Before reading the book, I had arrived at certain convictions (pacifism, living a life devoted wholly to God, care for the poor, a profound awareness of problems in The Church) but I was largely ignorant of a synthesis. Shane's words provided a model--a model for caring for the poor, for living life for God in community, for a constructive solution to problems in the Church. Instead of just criticizing Christians and The Church, Shane seemed to acknowledge the cognitive dissonance and hypocrisy without devolving into pure negativity. Instead the book told of how he and his community were trying to embody something old, in a (sort of?) new way.
As I went through college and came across peers who were also struggling to reconcile their faith in the midst of The Church's war on the World (I'm bolding and italicizing this, because I need to write exclusively on this topic) ...I came across more and more folks who had also read the book and felt it resounded with their struggle and also gave them hope.
During those four years I gained more exposure to different forms of church and Christianity.
I became more familiar (...than I was before) with the history of the Christianity.
My faith and relationship with God deepened in mystery and wonder.
I became friends with, and learned from, certain older, more beautiful, wiser individuals who had decided that their lives would revolve around caring for "the least of these".
Lastly, during those four years I clarified for myself my political ideas--a refining process which also left me at the feet of Jesus.
All this to say that I became wholly convicted that I was called to live in an Intentional Community in some manner or form, to the best of my ability, for the rest of my life.
Life at Cypress House
One of the safest things one can say about Intentional Communities (that aren't Catholic--ie Monasteries or Nunneries) is that they are all unique. Most obviously this is because they are comprised of unique individuals, and every mixture of people will invariably fall into slightly different rhythms of living and agreements with one another.
For the moment the Cypress House consists of four men and two women living under one roof. We have a structured way of live that has been dictated by our covenant...which is a mutually constructed and agreed upon contract that we observe and are governed by. I would like to write another time about what our covenant explicitly says and how it is arranged but for now I'm just going to be real brief.
We have set times of prayer together. We have set times for meals together. We take turns with chores and cleaning. We share expenses. We spend time with our neighbors and are involved in the community.
We have yet to parse and explicitly write about our values and our theology, but we all feel called by God to live together in this house.
My reasons for living here are the following--
- To live a life of constant worship and prayer. I can't do this on my own, at least not right now. I need to be in community with people who can hold me accountable, who can inspire me through their own devotion, who can encourage me and support me when I slack off or fail.
- To try and live sustainably. Again, it's so much easier to do this in community than by myself, and there's more motivation to do so (huge difference between 6 people living sustainably than 1 person doing so).
- To love my neighbor and take care of those around me. Living in community has made me more sensitive to my character flaws and shortcomings. It's made me aware of my pride and has prompted me to be more sensitive. It's opened my eyes to the necessity of grace. It's easier to reach out and serve the "least of these" when there is a community involved in the process.
- The conversations. The simple day-to-day stuff. Everyone in this house...is quite introverted (I'm...not as much), but because we have become friends with each other we are able to share in the ways God moves in each of our lives. We are able to have regular conversations on deep and profound subjects. Our individual joys becomes the community's joys and vice versa. I can tell you off the bat how each person in the house has grown in the past few months. The Rabbi's Gift, is a great little story that captures the spirit of what I'm trying to say...and sometimes I feel like I'm living out that story in a small but joyfully wondrous way.
Resources for the Curious
I've found that Irresistible Revolution doesn't seem to resonate with the older crowd and I believe it's Shane's attitude and, at times, his youthfulness. Lots of idealism, but the book consists of stories and at that one has to at least give him credit. If you think you have the ability to look past a person's misgivings and are willing to find the hidden treasure, I'd recommend starting here. Follow me to Freedom, is a book that you must buy and read in conjunction with Irresistible. The book is a recording of conversations between Shane and John Perkins (who is an older, wiser hero of our time). It's a great balance to Irresistible but at the same time it builds on it in a way. For older readers, you may appreciate Irresistible more with the added lens of Follow and for the younger generation, Follow is the book that'll bring you more down to earth and you'll be left off less naive and more understanding.
New Friars: The Emerging Movement Serving the Poor, chronicles Intentional Community's since the book of Acts, or at least it does a great beginning step. It covers how the Dominicans, the Franciscans and the Jesuits all started out (and...some still are) as living intentionally in communities of believers. It discusses the roots of the Moravian church and Nestorians as well as St. Patrick and the Celts. All the while discussing how families and people and organizations are living lives centered on serving God and neighbor in today's time, around the world.
Punk Monk, is an inspiring book. It discusses modern day communities that revolve around prayer...and it chronicles some of the amazing things that have happened when these communities are founded. I really liked this book and it challenged me to dig deeper into prayer.
The New Conspirators. Every Christian should read this book. It's an excellent summary of the positive directions that the church is going (in fact, the ONLY directions in which they are growing). It's a book that honestly discusses the problems The Church but gives hope by pointing to individual churches that are growing and explains why they are. These directions are churches that are: monastic, mosaic, missional, and emergent. The author is knowledgable it's evident that he speaks with some wisdom of experience (a little bit which Shane lacks in Irresistible).
Friendship at the Margins. Written by two authors who (I believe) are a part of Word Made Flesh organization. Using scripture, stories from the poorest communities in the world and gracefully sharp insight and words the authors discuss the heartbreaking challenges of serving the poor. The sharp contrast between Western materialism and plenty, and the poor in India or Bangladesh who are stuck in a cycle of sex slavery or lack of (...everything...). It's a well written book. It's a terribly difficult book to read. The truth convicts and wrenches at the soul...but a necessary truth. Sometimes I wonder if when I die, God will put me next to the poorest of the poor and ask me how I helped them (you know, because that's what He said would happen in Matthew 25). When one thinks of missionary and mission work, they don't think of what this brother Christopher and sister Christine describe...but I think it's exactly, more or less, what we're called to do.
Loaves and Fishes. Have you heard of the Catholic Worker? If you are living in a major American city, there is probably a Catholic Worker communities somewhere around there. Catholic Worker communities are intentional communities that have existed across America since the 30s. They serve the poor, the hungry, the homeless, the immigrants. They were active in anti-Vietnam movements, anti-war movements and are of the opinion that we'd solve a lot of our problems if we could spend the same amount of resources that we do on War, on the impoverished communities at home and abroad. Not to mention, we'd be following Christ's example to take care of the least of these. Not everyone is Catholic in these communities and not everyone is Christian, however they've been publishing newspapers since the 30s and serving the "least of these" for 80 years. Loaves and Fishes tells of some of the beginning history (and more) and explores some of the motives and characters involved in it's founding...specifically Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin.
There are more books but I'll stop here.
Other resources I'd recommend.
A movie about a group of french Trappist monks in Algeria during the civil war there. The monks have faithfully served their community (which is a muslim village in the countryside) for decades and decades by providing free medical care. When the civil war breaks out they must choose to leave for France or stay and risk death.
This movie actually probably planted the seed for me living in an intentional community when I was but a kid, which is when I first saw it. The movie is about St. Francis' life. It's got amazing music. It's very artistic and what dialogue there is, it succinctly captures the motives and reasons for simple devotion to God and the necessity to mirror God's care for those who are unable to support and care for themselves.
Carolyn and Teka are apart of two Catholic Worker communities in northern St. Louis and they describe the houses, their lives and some of the reasons for their living the lives that they do (fun fact, I actually met Carolyn this August!)
Two part podcast with Murphy Davis and Ed Loring
Murphy and Edi are founding partners of the Open Door Community and for 30 years they have lived and served the homeless poor, former prisoners all while speaking out against injustice.
Additional thoughts
I have a lot to say on this topic, but I need to break it up into manageable chunks for people. One of the reasons I'm living in an intentional community is that I'm trying to live out the gospel. I'm trying to live out the good news. I don't feel that can preach the gospel if I'm not living it out, if I'm not embodying it, if I'm not letting it penetrate every aspect of my life (and believe me, there are plenty parts of my life I want all to myself and no one else, thank you very much!). I want to "Preach the gospel always, and if necessary use words." (as Francesco of Assisi said)...here is a quote I'd like to finish with. It's by Dr. Cornel West from a podcast interview I just transcripted.
How do you create examples? People would rather see sermons than hear sermons. Consecrated lives, committed lives and then those lives coalescing with one another in order to create a massive example. And I think we just, we just don’t have that presence, that our churches are just too spiritually anemic and too cowardly, too well-adjusted to injustice, too well-adapted to indifference towards people who are suffering and youth. And of course that’s part of the prosperity gospel, that’s part of the market spirituality, that’s part of the Chamber of Commerce religion that has been hegemonic in America for so long.
There's a lot wrong in the world. There's a lot wrong with The Church. But I can't let the failures of churches, and my own shortcomings (one of which is my easy tendency for harsh criticism of what is wrong) prevent me from living out the Victory that has been secured for me. While things are a mess now I know that they won't be in end, and that hope and promise of a New Heaven on/and New Earth allows me to love and serve with great joy and peace of mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment