Community Living

February 28, 2013

It is time, finally time, for me to bring forth some of the thoughts swimming around in my head.  To be honest, there will never be an ideal time to write.  My first half of Mission Year has passed by and this blog has sat here underutilized, only serving as a final resting place for my monthly newsletters.  But I promised that my voice would be written down in the pages of this blog and now is the time to begin.

The mug that is holding my milk states: “Dig Deep.”  Dig deep... that’s what I’ve been doing.  The beginning of the dig may be exciting, but once you leave the surface the muscles start to ache and the weight of the dirt is ever heavy.  There is nothing to think about, there is nothing to write.  There is only the dig.

Community is a tough hole to dig.  The dirt I’ve been digging in has been staining my clothes and I never get to leave the work at work and go home.  Community IS home.  It is formed during our most vulnerable and messy moments.  I live with 5 other people in intentional community and after a hard, stressful day at work the work of community is just about to begin.  I wake up at 6am to do devotionals with my team and arrive back home after work at 6:30pm to find my team yet again.

I could describe what our interactions look like, but, frankly, that would be rather tiresome for you and me.  You already know what it looks like: the laughter, the tears, the anger, the yelling, the passive-aggressiveness, the bitterness, the joy, the celebration, et cetera.  Additionally, since we are being intentional about living in community, there is no sweeping under the rug in this house.  Conflict is brought out into the open and discussed, not just ignored.

What I think would be more beneficial for all parties present are the things I have pondered and the lessons I have been learning.  The lesson that comes first sounds simple: staying at the table.  But before I dive into that, I’m going to take a break.  If your attention span is like mine, you could use a break too.  So, I’ll give myself some time to think, write, and enjoy my day of rest, and I’ll come back most likely carrying more questions than answers.

To those who dig: may you dig deep.