Anglican Community Project

I don’t need to outline the pain that the price of gas is inflicting on us all. It is an albatross around the collective neck of our country. When you live in the exurbs like I do, you drive a lot. I drive an hour to work and an hour-twenty to church at 85 mph. I would never choose to live like this, but it is something of a lack of foresight on my part, and something of a lack of financial possibilities. I have a feeling that many people are absolutely sick of living in this manner. Now, there is also a large sector of the population that thinks the American dream is living on as many acres as possible, as far away from people as possible, in the biggest home that is possible. I think there is a change in the air, indeed upon us, but it will take decades to work itself out. One large factor in my thinking is the definition of the good life, as posited by Aristotle, Aquinas and the Christian tradition. Philip Bess sums up the tradition on the good life: ...the good life for individual ...

This story from yesterday is another sign to me that the ideas of shared community - not as just a concept but as a concrete reality - are catching on: Cohousing The idea in play here is discussed from a secular angle, but still has merit. It includes: 1. Participatory process. 2. Neighborhood design. 3. Common facilities. 4. Resident management. 5. Non-hierarchical structure and decision-making. 6. No shared community economy. I'd like to interact with some of these ideas as I have more time. But this is at the heart of what I see as gathered communities heading into a new Dark Age. These communities would serve as bastions to preserve Biblical learning, the best of Western culture, and a rich and winsome Christian fellowship, with all that it implies.

It was the beginning of Lent (2008) and I was walking out of a beautiful Roman Catholic retreat center, talking with a dear friend from our beloved church . We were talking about our parish life, especially our rhythm of seasonal retreats (like that very one), practicing the spiritual disciplines together. We were rejoicing in the community Christ is building in our midst and out of us. And on the grounds of this serene retreat center, our unity in Christ seemed more palpable than ever. Like many in our church, and like my wife and I were until deep into our thirties, this friend is single. Singleness has its rewards, no doubt. I could not have gone to grad school in Europe for as long as I did (won't say how long!), and could not have taken quite the cultural education in languages and travel that I did, were I not free-wheeling it. But singleness is difficult, too. I struggled with loneliness and felt forced to forge communal ties on my own, sometimes without much reciproc...