"each of us is created for community, and in the image of community. And yet everything in the world tries to rob us of this Divine gift."
it has been about 8 months of attempting the whole intentional community concept. back in january, before it began, there was nothing but excitement. i was honestly surprised to even find other people who would be crazy enough to share their space and their things with people they have yet to really know. for me, i was not anticipating too much of a challenge...having experienced multiple living situations, not owning too many possessions, and well i knew realistically i was only gonna be around half the time due to my job. but as a house we were anticipating and expecting the understandable challenges that come with roommate situations.
and of course it didnt take too long for these minor issues to transpire...
the first few months our biggest confrontation had to do with the thermostat or the chore chart. very little disagreements. we loved community. i loved community. with everyones odd jobs, there were ALWAYS people home. always someone to eat with, go on a walk, or do an art project with :) because we wanted our house to be purposeful we set up covenants. our vision. our standard of what we expect from ourselves and everyone else living in the house. some of these were basic and essential to any family or house of people - for example respect each other (dont blast your music if someone is sleeping, pick up after yourself, be careful with peoples stuff) and other covenants were unique to our house - try to get tuesday and wednesdays off, follow the chore chart, put money in the food and house jar. We would take turns inviting friends and neighbors over for a community dinner on wednesday nights. and tuesday night would be bible study and family meeting. we planted a garden together. we did not have tv. recycling was important to us. people thought we were different and we were. we wanted to create a place where people felt loved. a place you could stop by anytime and feel welcome. we were a group of friends. imperfect, subversive, messy people. trying to spread the message of love.
we were the orchard.
looking back...i think our intentions were right on. i think its the combination of peoples expectations that may not be wrong, but because they are different, it makes it impossible for something to work. what do you do if your expectations of something or someone arent met? what things are you not willing to compromise, and when do you make sacrifices? as my vision of a successful communal living situation became more and more confusing and perhaps unrealistic, i re-read the book that initially inspired our vision, "irresistible revolution." it did give me hope and i was encouraged and my desire for community was refueled. i honestly think everyone desires and needs community. a group of friends who are real and depend on each other and laugh together and are patient with each others faults and failures.
"the person who loves their dream of community will destroy community (even if their intentions are ever so earnest), but the person who loves those around them will create community." dietrich bonhoeffer
