Rhythm is the secret key to balance and belonging. - John O'Donohue
My journey in community has been a quest for wholeness and connection, a desire to belong to something beyond myself, and to seek to live a life that is in touch with the Spirit, with my fellow humans, and with the natural world. I believe that we come together in our longing for the wholeness of one another and of all of creation, that everything belongs.
When I was preparing to graduate from a small Christian college in Western NY, I was entirely set up to go forth and succeed in the workaday world. I had excelled in academia. I had everything handed to me and paid for. I held the power to do whatever I wanted. Meanwhile, a growing consciousness of my privilege in the world had been developing a dissonance in my heart, which came to a head my senior year. I encountered students who were captivated by concepts of simplicity and interdependence, whose curiosity led them downtown to make contact with folks on the streets. Like many in my generation, my imagination was sparked by the words of Shane Claiborne. And, like many who have gone before us, we were inspired by the image of the early church, who saw needs diminish as they practiced sharing all things in common.
My curiosity led me to Houston for a crash course in intentional community and loving my neighbor within the context of Mission Year. From there I journeyed to Americus, GA to learn about community through the life and rhythms at Koinonia Farm. For over four years now, I have been letting my roots sink into the rich landscape of Jubilee Partners, where I am surrounded by people who inspire and challenge me. The same folks I have admired from the beginning are now the family I am getting to know and love.
I stay in community because the practices of life together keep me grounded and in rhythm. Here, where work, meals, living space, prayer, and much more overlap, I am exposed and known, together with everyone else, in our best, worst, and most ordinary moments. I am challenged to notice and respond to needs beyond my own, I am arrested time and again by the stories and lives of those who know what it is to suffer, and my daily interaction with the land reminds me of my place in the greater landscape. Whether I am taking my turn at washing the dishes or engaging my particular gifts, there are ever-present opportunities to channel my energies and attention toward edifying the Whole.
In short, I have found the rhythms of life together to be a practical space, however painful or joyful, for redirecting my attentions, for letting go of my ego projects, and to keep wrestling with what it means to have privilege in the world. I can then be set free to live and grow into my whole self, and hopefully help to prepare that space in turn for others. We are the light of Christ to one another, revealing to each other who we really are. To share life is a fresh invitation each day to draw closer to the heartbeat of love and grace.
“This is the spiritual journey – to live into the fullness of Christ’s life within us.” (Phileena Heuertz)