I had a wonderful time at the Saint Louis area Community of Communities gathering on Saturday, March 21. Lotus House hosted the event. In addition to Lotus, other communities were represented including Deaconess Ann House, the Vincentian Volunteer Corp, the New Beguines, and Anam Cara, among others. About 25 people attended overall.


The gathering encouraged me in many ways.

The Community of Communities gathering was very refreshing. From the hospitality and smiles, to the large pot of delicious veggie soup, to the chickens living under the back porch, I knew I was among members of my own tribe, so to speak. 

Springfield does not yet have the critical mass of covenanted intentional communities that Saint Louis has. I found it refreshing to suddenly be among so many kindred spirits when there are comparatively so few of us in Springfield. 

Also, the Lotus House has been around for longer than Spare Key. It is always inspiring to meet new friends who are farther along on the journey than us. I think there is a lot that Spare Key can learn from Lotus House. 






 

Spare Key was the only community from outside Saint Louis that was represented. It was a Saint Louis gathering, after all. But I was so glad they invited us. I had met Alden (who lives at Lotus House and who extended the invitation) only through email and through Lotus House's blog. Now that we've met, I sincerely hope Spare Key and Lotus House will find ways to work together in the future.



Many aspects of the gathering reminded me of my year in immersive community back in 2010.  For example, everybody at the gathering knew what the word “charism” meant. During introductions, everybody was able to easily name the two or three values upon which their respective communities were founded and by which they and their fellow community members endeavored to live.

I also noticed that many of us were in some kind of AmeriCorps program. Amber and I did AmeriCorps back in 2010, so I related to those folks who are currently in the throes of their own AmeriCorps stint. 

If their Intentional Community/AmeriCorps experience is anything like mine, their year will be deeply transformative for them in ways they won’t fully realize until later. In any event, while I knew that community and community service go together like PB and J, I had never recognized the specific symbiotic relationship that exists between AmeriCorps service corps and the broad range of religious Intentional Communities. 

I hope I get to see and interact with all the people I met at the Community of Communities gathering again in the future, whether in their neck of the woods or in mine.

This week marks the beginning of a new adventure of discovery together for us. We will begin exploring what Sabbath truly means and how we can go about developing the intentionality needed to  commit to practicing Sabbath in our busy world. What a great topic to study over the summer!

Last week we spent our time together talking about what Sabbath means to each of us. We started by saying one word that we connect with Sabbath. Some of the words mentioned included: rest, restorative, intentional, outside, routine, and candles. We then each had a chance to elaborate on why we connect that word to Sabbath and what Sabbath means to us. In our small group we had a wide range of meanings for this practice. Everything from taking a day off with no cell phones or internet to digging holes and doing yard work. I'm eager to see how our understandings of Sabbath grow as we learn together this summer.
To guide us on our journey, we will be reading Sabbath by Dan Allender. This book is part of a series of books called the Ancient Practices Series. I had the privilege of reading this book several years ago and I recall fondly the immense impact it had on my life and I look forward to reflecting on that as we read it once again and seeing where it leads us as a community.

I will leave you with a quote by Phyllis Tickle, the editor of Sabbath. She writes this in the introduction:

"What has happened for me in working with this manuscript is a transposition of the Sabbath from rule and commanded observance to holy romp and secret playground where each visit only adds another level of delight."

I am so excited to discover that secret playground and holy delight with my Spare Key friends. We will keep you posted on our reflections along the way!