Rain

It's raining like Niagara Falls here and my body can tell.  My joints are sore, and my fingers are not working like they are suppose to.  Hopefully today will be a good resting day, but I really don't want to spend the whole time in bed.  

We will see what it holds, hopefully some good, moving, soulful, healing, reading.  I like reading, going to places from my recliner.  I never did it much as I was younger.  I need to catch up on the classics, as well as some theology I might be missing while out of school.

Yoga is making me stronger which hopefully means less pain in the long run.  I hope to write more soon about all that.  But not this morning.

Community

Part of the series "A Manifesto--of Sorts"

Scripture, the Bible, is a building block to my faith and my beliefs on how I should act in the world.  Being brought up in a caring and loving United Methodist Church I consider a few other aspects to inform my faith and beliefs, these aspects are experience, reason, and tradition.  This is not just the way I do theology, but how I assess and live my life.  But, I suppose when it comes down to the bottom line, the way I choose to live my life is theological.

I believe humans were created for community.  I’ve come to this conclusion, first by my experiences in the world.  Simply, I do not like to be alone.  There are times that I enjoy silence and quiet reflection by myself.  But when it boils down to living my day-to-day life, I prefer to share it with someone.  This someone is my husband the majority of the time, however, I enjoy and feel the need to include as many people as possible in the ordinary things.

Everyone loves to get together and celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions.  But most people do not get together to share the mundane; preparation of a weekday meal, the grocery shopping, laundry, and other chores of life.  People travel in the same direction to work everyday, and many chose to do that in a car by themselves.  Why do we not reach out to one another, and ask for each other’s presence in our lives?

A simple answer to this could be that a particular person is introverted, and does not feel the necessity to share their lives.  Or it could be that no one knows how to do this in a manner that is fluid and not awkward.  Sharing the ordinary is not an easy task.  Everyone has different ways of cooking, cleaning, shopping, driving, and simply living their lives.  They’ve never had to give reasons for why they do something a certain way, and may have never entertained the thought that there may be an easier, more efficient, or different way of doing things. 

In the Genesis 2 creation story we read, “Then the Lord God said ‘It is not right that man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner (Gen. 2:18).’”  In this very first instance we read in Scripture that God created humans to not be alone, for us to have helpers and partners in our daily lives.  From this first verse all the way through the Hebrew Bible and New Testament we encounter instances, when God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit works in ways to bring humans together; God’s Covenant with the Israelites, Jesus gathering his disciples, and the structure of the early church.

Monasteries from very early church history are an example of people coming together to be in community.  Humans have come together throughout the history of the church.  I will admit that all of these communities did not turn out as planned or are not examples of what I wish to follow in my life.  The Shaker communities in 18^th century desired to live a Utopian lifestyle and had a law for every aspect of life thrived into the early 19^th century with as many as 6000 members and eventually declined during the American Civil War.  There can be many critiques made about the Shaker communities, but they are seen as one of the more successful Utopian societies in the 19^th century.

In the 1960s-1970s many communities formed around ideals of the counter culture and these were often referred to as communes.  These communes lived on the outskirts of society, and daily life was shared.  In most instances these communes were known for their drug use and promiscuity, and were not formed on Christian beliefs.  Usually because of disagreements or disillusions about communal life, these communes eventually dissolved and their members returned back to society; however a few still remain.

Today there are thriving communities formed around an array of beliefs and ideals, and are now more commonly known as Intentional Communities.  Some are Christian, some practice other religions, and some claim no religious affiliation.  It is these Christian communities that I am most interested in.  I want to learn about their successes, their failures, and their motivating factors of living in community.  Many of these communities are more traditional, but contemporary models of monasticism.  There is also a movement that has been called New Monasticism. This movement, like many, is hard to define or put edges around.

I am driven to community, to look for places in the ordinary to share with others.  I am not speaking of a Utopian society, but one where those who live within a community then go out into the world using their resources that they have formed to be the hands and feet of Christ.  It makes me nervous to say something like this in a public forum, although I’ve had plenty of conversations with people about this idea.  The truth is, I do not have much experience “out there” in the world.  I do not know how to minister to the poor and needy.  Most of all I fear failure in an attempt to form a community who lives and breathrs the life of Christ together.  Perhaps we all fear to fail and that is why we keep to ourselves.  Living our separate lives, while we struggle with being Christians in the 21^st century.  But if we truly want to live in the kingdom, I believe, we as Christians have to come together to work in the world.  I hope that you as my readers will explore this concept with me as we journey together.

You can read the introduction to this series here.

For Life: you interpret

I'm Still Learning

While I plot my next entry in my manifesto, I wanted to talk about how I am still learning how to deal with my chronic condition, fibromyalgia.

Last night is a classic example of "overdoing it."  I didn't drink, partly because I am not drinking beer (gluten), and partly because it didn't really cross my mind.  My new lifestyle has lead me to make much healthier choices than before.  However, I did not make those choices when it came to eating chicken wings, candy, and staying up late.  Today I am paying for it.  I've had less than 4 hours of sleep at this point because I am sick to my stomach and my body hurts horribly.  I hope to go back to bed, but do not know if this will be allowed to happen.  

I believe I've entered a new stage in my life.  The part I learn to deal with my body, what I've had to change due to Fibromyalgia, and being thankful for what I do have.  I am still learning.  I also know that I will not get through this next stage in my life by myself.  I've been spending a lot of time isolated, mostly because it is hard for me to get out and about.  But for me to adjust to this life, I need to be with the people who care about me and want me to live the best life that I can.  I am not sure how this is going to take place, but I know it is something that I have to do.  I have so much to write about, but that will wait for another day.  I need to head back to the bed and get some pillows under my legs or something.

My wonderful darling and caring husband broke the recliner this weekend... he we leaning over to give me a kiss, so I'm not terribly mad.  While it is functional, it is not that same.  So, I am taking full advantage of the wool mattress pad on my bed today and resting in comfort.

A Manifesto-- of sorts

Starting in October of 2007 my life and lifestyle began to change drastically.  I was proven not to be invincible, and I launched on a journey that has taken me through physical and mental illnesses.  I've survived hospital stays, countless pricks of needles, urinating in small plastic containers, being slid through medical machines that would produce pictures of something, and taken pill after pill after pill.  It is almost February of 2009, and if you would have asked me 18 months ago what I thought I'd be doing today, I could have not even fathomed the experiences of this particular time in my life.

That being said, I've decided to launch myself on a new journey.  One of written word and mental exercises.  I want to write a manifesto of sorts, to lay down my principles in which I plan to live by, and outline some major decisions that will affect my future.  I considered a memoir, but at 27 and even with my recent experiences, I think that looking ahead to my future is a much more enriching exercise than writing about the past.  I have no hopes for this process, other than to articulate my life beliefs, prod my mind for ideas, and entertain my readers.  Every story has a beginning and this is mine.

I surround myself with good people, food, music, and smells.  I have a deep faith in God, and a sense of responsibility to the earth.  I allow room for other's views in conversations.  Negativity is not an option.  I am amazed at the education that I have been able to receive, and know that I am not through with my educational endeavors.  I acknowledge education does not happen inside the classroom alone, but is present in every aspect of our lives.  Some of the wisest people I know have been educated in the simplest forms.

To understand anything about my beliefs and principles, it is probably advisable to know where I come from, for it is my younger years that I feel most formed by.  I grew up on several acres in rural Pennsylvania, and the hours I spent outdoors playing with nature molded my mind.  The church I attended nurtured me into a caring, loving, nonjudgmental person.  My family with two older sisters, allowed me to believe I could do and be anything that I wanted.  

Throughout this writing, I will elaborate on many of these aspects.  I may write hundreds of words about one idea, but perhaps only a simple sentence about another.  At the end I believe that I will have learned something about myself, as well as the world in which I live, and you the reader will be inspired to do an act of kindness for this world of ours that we all share together.

**I can not give specific details about how often installments of this piece will appear, so please be patient, it is a work in progress and perhaps will be edited even after it has been posted.  I will make references to changes of previous posts if any occur**