Community

I'm thinking A LOT these days about community. My family has given me permission to wonder more about new ways to live out a commitment to community.

I've been dreaming and envisioning a lot of alternatives to the way we live. We're a very individualistic society, things often seem fragmented. (at least to me they do) What if we lived more communally? What if we shared more and hoarded less? What if we had more people to look after less stuff?

What if a few families shared their lives, their space, their stuff... living together, but still preserving each family unit?

What led me to these weird contemplations?

• Practical conclusions; It's really hard for parents to work full time, with kids who go to school full time, make all the lunches, keep the house decent, put great meals on the table, and not be exhausted at the end of every day just by keeping up.
• Spiritual conclusions; If human beings were created by a God who is three people all by Himself, isn't the obvious reality that we need each other.. and putting more and more insulation between us means we're moving in the wrong direction? Wasn't communal living and sharing of stuff a unique characteristic of early Jesus followers?
• Consumption Conclusions; Do we really all need our own lawn mower, our own washing machines, our own tools and sheds to house those tools? Doesn't it just make more sense to share big-ticket, infrequent use things?

Picture three or four families, living on a large yard with three or four homes. A large garden is in one corner, and everyone shares the job of caring for the garden and the yearly harvest. A large building is somewhere central, where everything needed to care for the buildings and yard is stored. Meals are often shared, but not always. Individual families spend lots of time together, and aren't always focused on what needs to get done. The children have lots of adults speaking into their lives, but their parents role is in no way diminished, somehow it's enhanced. A clothes line is always outfitted with linens and garments drying in the open air during the summer months. The homes are as energy efficient as they can be, and they've shared the start up costs for becoming that way.

I know it sounds wacky. I feel wacky for thinking it. Unfortunately though, the more I think about it, the more it begins to make sense, and the more I start to think maybe we ought to consider that just because we are accustomed to seperate, individualistic pursuits doesn't mean they aren't wacky.

I really start to see the benefits when considering the eventual influence a group of families sharing life could have on their community... wouldn't it be so much easier to care for others if each of us had a bit more time? If we shared the burden 'at home', wouldn't that translate into sharing the burden in the larger community? Couldn't we do a much better job of practicing the kind of love that Jesus and his first disciples modeled if our lives looked a bit more like theirs did?

i'm not sure I want to hit post.. i'm holding my breath because I know there are flaws to this kind of thinking. I know we're reluctant to loosen our grip on what we have and what we're used to. and I'm not really sure having these thoughts and ideas will ever lead anywhere... but just in case...