Joshua's perspective on "supporting one another through daily community practices that help us follow Jesus:"
Everyone has daily practices, but unfortunately it is now common to spend the vast majority of our lives, alone or with our immediate family. In doing so, we have impoverished our own lives and our communities.
So what do we want to do differently? Mostly, spend time together. Doing together. Cooking and enjoying meals--preferably more than one a day, which is one reason co-housing would be ideal. As followers of Jesus, we also want to practice the presence of God through shared prayer, reading of scripture, and simple liturgies.
We also participate in a larger church community (more on that later), but deliberately spending time together on a daily basis will allow us to accomplish so much more.
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Molly's perspective on "supporting one another through daily community practices that help us follow Jesus":
Daily, weekly, monthly--we are so drawn to doing things regularly. We love having what we need built in so that instead of reinventing the wheel, we can put our energy into where the wheel might take us.
Alongside close geographical proximity, daily practices are the stuff of the roots of the sort of community we are imagining. Because we tend to forget some very important things, we need practices to help us remember. And especially because we don't tend to cross paths enough (as mentioned at the end of the previous post), we need practices to get us together.
And the point of it all? To follow Jesus. God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit is at work restoring relationships that intersect in us--with our community, with our enemies, with our environment, and yes--most importantly--even with Jesus himself. We want to be a part of these transforming relationships--we want to follow Jesus.
Built-in community practices can help us follow Jesus by reminding us of who we are and who God is, what God is doing around us, and how we might join together in that work. They could include, and are not limited to simple evening vespers, shared meals, neighborhood walks, or morning prayer. And--it should go without saying, but so often it doesn't--that core practices are for each and every person in the community--all places on the journey, all abilities, all ages.
(We are heading up a South Lake Union based group seeking to be intentional about: 1. moving into close geographical proximity to one another 2. supporting one another through daily community practices that help us follow Jesus 3. connecting ourselves and our resources to the people of South Lake Union 4. maintaining "one foot in, one foot out" of Union Church)
