Goodbye 2024

Soon, it will be four years since I took the first public steps to begin planning for New Covenant House as an Intentional Christian Community, a modern day monastery. The idea had been brewing in my mind for years, but the New Covenant House Facebook page was the first public manifestation.

Years in church leadership had taught me how important it is to be clear about why we are doing what we do. This year it also became clear that it is not enough to know why. You also need to be able to communicate it to others.

Let me be clear, we do want to be open and inclusive. Everyone who is willing can be saved. However, building a new community takes a lot of energy. We need to spend it wisely. Like it or not, for now we have to be exclusive. We will only be looking for people who can help move the project forward. We need to be of one heart and one mind. Everyone else will have to wait a little while longer.

Right now, my biggest wish is to get some feedback on the communication we already have and some ideas for taking it to the next level. The biggest step we could take next year I think would be to test the concept with a real person in real life.

In order to attract the right startup group, I created a simple website that explains what it is we are trying to accomplish. In order to reach the best suitable candidates, our Foundations document now also includes a statement of faith. Our faith is what provides all the values that guide us in everything we do. I hope it will help you decide whether New Covenant House is for you or not. Read it. Then give us a call to schedule a visit or a phone or video call.

4th Sunday of Advent, 2024 | Immanuel - God With Us

 The 4th and last Sunday in Advent is the day some traditions light the Christ candle along with one of the other four candles; the Hope, the Joy, the Love or the Peace candles. Lighting the Love candle on this day makes the most sense to me. After all, Love is the central element in Jesus’ teaching and ministry.

Regardless of Luke’s account of the first Christmas, the people back then had no idea what had just happened. It wasn’t until maybe as much as half a century later that some people realized what an extraordinary thing that had happened long ago and began to piece the story together. In the process, their imagination ran a little wild at times. Let us face it, there were no angels or wise men. Jesus was just another baby, but as it turned out, not just any baby. He grew up to be perhaps the most influential person in the history of mankind. He repeatedly pointed out how the people, in their quest to follow the letter of the law, totally missed the spirit of the law. The gospel writers’ creative writing even went so far as to call him Immanuel which means God with us in Hebrew. Jesus wasn’t God, but I think he knew God better than anyone before or after. In a sense, he is our way to know God too.

Every religion on the planet has some kind of creation story. In ours, the ancient writers imagined a place where everything could have been perfect were it not for our natural selfishness. Unlike most animals, we have a brain that enables us to override this natural tendency to place ourselves before others. It is the same brain that allows us to forgive others when they stumble. It is the same brain that allows us to work together for the good of all.

All of these things are summarized in the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13):

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from the evil one.’

3rd Sunday in Advent, 2024 | Peace

 

On the third Sunday of Advent, some church traditions celebrate peace.

In our relatively comfortable North American prosperity, peace frequently means the absence of war and violence or an inner tranquility or bliss.

Over time, Biblical scholars have managed to make this quite complicated. They frequently identify at least three to five kinds or aspects of peace. First, there is the inner peace or tranquility we experience individually. Second, there is peace with other people and, finally, peace among nations, tribes or groups.

The peace we celebrate during the season of Advent is described in Luke 2:14 as announced by the heavenly host. They say, "on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests." It seems to imply some kind of exclusivity. That is not the case, but that will have to be a discussion for another day.

Inner peace is closely related to anxiety or worry. It is hard or impossible to have inner peace when your most basic needs aren't being met. Jesus repeatedly warns us against our obsession with possessions. Listen to him and our yoke will be easy and our burden light (Matthew 11:30). The early church did. They had everything in common (Acts 4:32) and there were no needy persons among them (Acts 4:34).

Peace is also in jeopardy in our relationships with one another. Frequently, other people are the source of much conflict in our lives. Sometimes it is over possessions, but also over power and domination. Again, Jesus has a solution: Turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39). People aren't generally evil, but everyone has triggers that cause us to forget who we are and overreact. Turning the other cheek effectively disarms the attacker. Jesus himself did not resist when confronted with the ultimate attack on the cross.

It is unlikely that we as individuals can achieve world peace. It is only possible when we do it together. In the meantime, we can retreat to places where no one else wants to live and begin to build a new church from the ground up. As Peter Maurin, co-founder of Catholic Worker Cooperatives, famously says, build a new society within the shell of the old. By our example, we will show the world that the Kingdom of Heaven is possible.

We often forget the most important peace of all, the peace we have with God. Jesus makes it really simple. His peace is based on love. Love God and love one another, he says.

Have a Vision - Now what?

 

They had everything in common and there was not a needy person among them, says Luke in his account of the movement started by the first Christians. If they had an answer to suffering, why is there still people in need today? The answer is the sin of disobedience. Instead of following Jesus' very simple instructions to love God and to love one another, we are mostly concerned with hoarding wealth for ourselves or finding ways to dominate others.

My vision for New Covenant House is to restore the Garden of Eden. Clearly, that is what God wants for us. That is our ultimate goal, but like some wise guy said, every journey starts with the first step. There is much to unlearn. There is much to learn anew or learn again.

If you have been around intentional communities for a while, you will know that efforts have come and gone. With that statistic in mind, why would New Covenant House be one to survive? The answer is that we have a clear vision for where we are going. The most resilient intentional communities in history have been monastic orders. Some traditional ones have been around for centuries. More modern ones have also been around for more than a few decades. They have made mistakes for sure. Sometimes they have been caught up in power struggles just like everyone else, but they are still around and we can learn from both what they did right as well as what they did wrong.

Some other wise guy said that if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Restoring the Garden of Eden is pretty far to go from where we are now. I have taken the first step by creating a Foundations document outlining what it is I have in mind, but I have reached the limit of what I can do alone. The journey has come to a halt. I am looking for a companion to take the next step, someone who can add the missing pieces and make it understandable for others who might want to join us.

https://sites.google.com/view/newcovenanthouse/home

2nd Sunday of Advent

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

 

Today is the second Sunday in the tradition of Advent. It may seem like just another empty ritual, but once we start digging into some of the details, a whole new clarity may emerge. The common use of candles symbolize the dawning of a new era of enlightenment, a time of joy, peace, hope and love that will last forever, the coming of Christ who will show us how to make God’s plan for us a reality so the Garden of Eden may be restored.

The number one tool he gives us to do that is love. When we think of love, we might think of something romantic or even erotic. It is that for sure, but some people get a little closer to the full meaning of God’s love when we take care of our brothers and sisters who are in need. Beyond even that, God’s love also has to do with how we treat each other as physical representations of God, his children.That, of course, begs the question: Who is God? Answering that more fully will have to wait till another day. Today I will just say this:

Even though God is really a creation of people who lived long ago, perhaps even before there was a way to reliably convey it to the next generation, it is difficult for us even today to grasp the magnitude of God’s love. We might say things like: God is love. That may be true, but what does that really mean? Advent is one of those times we can think about what it means for us individually as well as collectively.

Love is one thing we all share, something we all have in common. It is part of what it means to be human. When we nurture that aspect of our being, hope, joy and peace will follow. It is the good news that is for all the people.

1st Sunday of Advent, 2024

 

Today is the first day of a common Christian tradition called Advent. I know some anarchists have mixed feelings about traditions. Challenging or dismantling hierarchical structures are at the core of Anarchism. Many are allergic to church and state and their holidays because both have long occupied center stage in the struggle for power and influence.

For Christian anarchists, our driving force is our love for God and for one another. We may be anarchists, but we are Christians first. Anarchism is simply inherent in Christianity. Neither church nor state have a role in our tradition. Everything we say and do impacts someone else somewhere. We are not here to assert our freedom to do whatever we want. We are here to serve God and to serve one another.

We are, however, free to celebrate the coming of Christ any way we think will honor God and others. When we make traditions, it is mostly to remind ourselves of our identity; to whom we belong. Celebrating Advent is a way for us to do that. We are united in Christ. He is Immanuel which is the Hebrew word for God with us. Advent means that something or someone is about to come or arrive. God is coming to live among us in Christ.

There is a great deal of symbolism involved with the lighting of a candle. It can mean escape from darkness. Christ is the light of the world (John 8:12). It can mean a moment to reflect on, say, why are we here? Traditionally, the symbolism associated with the first candle is that of hope. God’s presence in the form of Christ will be good news that will bring great joy for all the people (Luke 2:10).