They desire to give unselfishly, but expect others to reciprocate in kind. People who “fit” in the Village, have a strong sense of self but are unselfish. Over time, a culture of the Village on Sewanee Creek has emerged with identifiable characteristics. We see the same impulses in today’s freedom movement, rejecting “nanny state” government’s exponentially growing body of law that attempts to regulate everything. One of the central messages of the New Testament is about Jesus’ struggle against the Pharisees and Saducees who had reduced the law of Moses to a state of hypocrisy and judgementalism based on rules for virtually every action, every choice. The ties that bind, bind us down into socially unbearable servitude. Soon, the burden is more than we are willing to bear. Rules meant to perfect us, chafe and bind. My observation is that when broad principles are distilled into ever finer sets of rules by which members are expected to live, the overwhelming social tendency is to judge one another harshly. In many “ intentional communities” those values are provided by religious faith in a codified set of doctrines provided by a charismatic leader. But an underlying set of shared values is fundamental to a cohesive community. Some of us acknowledged our discomfort with the term. Recently the topic of “like-mindedness” was raised again in our community bulletin board. While consensus is desireable, there is room for differences because of the importance we place on private ownership and control of private property. We govern ourselves by broad principles, but few rules. This establishes a baseline culture of voluntary community and cooperation, but allows each person the freedom to seek their own balance without social pressure. We cultivate that desire through our traditions of regular social and shared work events, but avoid any and all coercion to participate. That’s why, in building the Village, I have tried to attract people who have a desire for close community. Life is often about finding a balance and that balance point is dynamic and different for everyone. I was drawn into the article by his description of how difficult community can be and why a part of us finds community inconvenient, invasive and unwelcome. In Paul Born’s article, Deepening Community: The Joy of Togetherness, I was interested to read the perspective of one Mennonite leader on the importance of community, what it is, how it benefits us, and how it is built. I have admired them when they occasionally hit the news with a story where the community has pulled together to publicly forgive the perpetrator of some horrific crime against them. Our Friday project tradition is loosely borrowed from the iconic Amish barn raising. From a distance, I have admired Amish and Mennonite communities.
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