Archive for the ‘community’ Category

KARL - Faith Shelter

Monday, August 30th, 2010

I like to build things. But I have this weird obsession to use as much reclaimed material as possible. I loathe going to the store and just buying something new or shiny. I wish I had some deep environmental ethic, but I confess my true motivation is I love the forced creativity, only using what is on hand. I have this image that is what God intended when we build faith communities.

I have never been lost in the woods, or stranded on a tropical island, or survived an arctic plane crash. But if I did, I like to think I am the sort of person who could build a shelter, something to survive in. I would not be interested in fancy, lifetime structures, just something to keep me safe and warm. I think that is what God was thinking when He talked about church. I think He thought we would use the resources we find at hand, small broken pieces of people to build a temporary and safe place.

Sadly, faith communities seem intent on building cathedrals. Super structures that inspire awe and require lots of imported materials–a great preacher (or as great as the budget allows) from the north, young and talented musicians from the east and a comfortable, suburban or cool and hip urban location.

A shelter in the woods is completely different from one in the jungle or arctic. The materials and needs are unique only to each environment. Yet churches seem to be sadly almost identical. The same awesome worship, inspired preaching and comfortable “seeker friendly” auditoriums are found in Alabama and Oregon.

What if we limited ourselves to the resources that God has placed at hand? Something unique will always emerge. The gospel has a unique and irritating characteristic: it seems more attractive to the socially awkward, the economically deprived and the meek. That is why if want to build something cool, we have to import that resource, because cool, together, even emotionally healthy is a scarce resource in the kingdom of God.

I love the unique “building” God is making at The Refuge. I love that forced creativity that happens when we find in our own friends everything we need to find community. It is not fancy, but it is fully functional and will keep you safe.

TAMI - So???

Monday, July 5th, 2010

So….I’m sitting here on an average day–no shocking headlines or famous dead guys to quote today. I do, however, have a few ponderings rolling around in my head….I’ve prepared for you a special something straight from my heart of Tami-ness (smirk). And just to make it more special (ahem), I write to you from a psychiatric ward in CO, as a patient. Yes, from a hospital. Yes, I’m broken.

Some may wonder why in the world I’m writing here: What authority do I have?

What special insight or knowledge do I have? I, of all people, should have
less margin to say much of anything about faith, life or spirituality since I’m obviously poor in all aforementioned areas, correct? I’m too sick to speak!

Well, so???

I have plenty to say, and I’ll let you decide if it’s worth reading–I’m on a journey, and whew, is it a handful. I can attest to ONE SURE THING as a result of my travels thus far:

We need each other!

This crazy, sweet thing I call “my healing community” is not an optional
accessory for the trip. I stand and give the screechy battle cry: “brother, sister–I NEED you! You NEED me! let’s both admit we’re busted at least a little and get together on it!”

Healing community is not for the faint-hearted (Bible-ese for “sissies”). Can we not all hang out with each other, us who are hurt, tattered, tired, and just “do life” together? Jesus does it with us every day….And nobody can claim to be anything other than imperfect. Whiners, cheaters, abusers, the dirty, impoverished…?

If the Church is a hospital (and it is), and we are broken (and we are), then each of us is a PERFECTLY well-suited match for Jesus! Welcome to the fam! Come in. Speak. We want to hear about what he’s doing in your broken corner of the world…

So???

KATHY - camping is the best form of church!

Monday, June 21st, 2010

group at camp 2010

this past weekend was the refuge’s 5th annual camping trip.   for all kinds of reasons, it is one of my favorites.  i think that camping is the highest form of church.

it draws us together as a community in a unique way that our regular gathering can’t always do.

it’s natural & unplugged. just a lot of friends hanging out together, with plenty of time on our hands to just hang out, eat, laugh, talk, nap, be together with no hurry to get home or to the next place.

we share easily. coffee passed around, marshmallows and graham crackers busted out. wood tossed into the pile.  tents and sleeping bags spread around to those who need them.

kids & grownups all mixed up together. everyone’s looking out for each other’s kids.  the kids form new bonds (capturing frogs definitely bonded a big chunk of them together this year, ha ha).  we get to share the load of love and support together.

baptisms, yeah! to me, there’s nothing better than seeing friends take the step that says “i am choosing to follow Jesus and i want you to be part of it with me.”  it’s a reminder to me that God is at work, stirring hearts and moving us in our faith.

there’s no agenda except for being together. that’s one of my favorite parts.  there’s no program, no huge plan, nothing contrived.  just friends together, learning the ways of love.

what’s your favorite part?

transition colorado - our grange neighbors!

Monday, February 1st, 2010

we are thankful to have new neighbors at the grange: transition westminster/arvada/broomfield. we have mentioned the work that they are doing at different times over the past few months, but we thought it would be good for you to hear from them directly and know more about the work that they are doing in our community. the refuge is thankful for their spirit and dedication to community and look forward to sharing space and ideas in the months and years to come. you can learn more about upcoming events at www.transitioncolorado.ning.com

this article was written by don studinski (thanks don!) & hopefully will give all of us a greater sense of their vision and passion.

Transition Westminster / Arvada / Broomfield (TWAB for short) is  a social network group with its roots in Transition Colorado which, in turn, is a part of the international Transition movement started in England by Rob Hopkins.  Transition is about moving from our current unsustainable way of life (key issues include Peak Oil, which means we will have less energy in our future, environmental depletion, which means we are exceeding sustainable use of natural resources, and economic collapse, which means we are living beyond our means) toward a more sustainable and pleasant way of life which can include an endless list of possibilities limited only by our imaginations.  Wow, that’s a mouth full!

Hopefully, I haven’t lost you already.  Those of us in TWAB want very much to be a positive force within our community, not a doom and gloom group.  Specifically, we describe ourselves with this statement:  “A community of citizens that believes we have the power to build community resilience and self-reliance such that all species, now and in the future, will be able to meet their basic needs while maintaining a healthy planet.”  Anyone is welcome to join.  It’s free.  As of this writing, 1/11/2010, we have 49 members in our online group and about 10 to 20 actively involved with our events.  Our members are as close as walking-distance to the grange and as far away as Thailand.

Transition initiatives, like TWAB, exist to “unleash the collective genius of their own people to find the answers to this big question: for all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how are we going to:
significantly rebuild resilience (in response to peak oil)?
drastically reduce carbon emissions (in response to climate change)?

Typically, self-determined solutions will involve some flavor of relocalisation.”
Everything TWAB does relates back to rebuilding community resilience and self-reliance, but beyond that there are no limits.  Examples of our 2009 events include:
Building the Broomfield Community Permaculture Garden at the Presbyterian Church of Broomfield,
Hosting a community seed exchange,
Hosting several pot-luck dinners,
Showing several documentary films (we call this awareness raising),
Attending a “listening session” with some state senators,
Hosting a Northwest Earth Institute class called Voluntary Simplicity,
Hosting a canning class,
Hosting a composting class.
Hosting a Pachamama Alliance class called Awakening The Dreamer

We started in January, 2009, with 7 people in a coffee shop.  It didn’t take long for TWAB members to realize that we needed a place, beyond our member homes, to hold our events.  Therefore, a few TWAB members joined the Crescent Grange.  As members of the grange community, we have the good fortune to be able to use the building for significant events, and, beyond that, to create a community garden at the grange.  We call it Crescent Grange Community Permaculture Garden which we will be building in 2010.  This gives our group a sense of “place” much like the Broomfield Community Permaculture Garden did in 2009 (this will continue in 2010 as well).  We now have a bulletin board in the Southwest corner of the building where we will post flyers about community events.  This will include all the community events we learn about, not just TWAB sponsored events.  For example, there are Broomfield Auditorium Cultural events posted over there right now.

We have visions of all sorts of community-building events and activities we hope to do in 2010 and beyond.  Examples include growing an abundance of food, building a hoop house on the grange property, holding a clothing exchange, holding periodic book exchanges, creating a community “resilience” library, helping with grange maintenance and improvement, planting an orchard of fruit and nut trees, teaching classes in composting, permaculture gardening, canning and drying herbs and vegetables, sewing, beekeeping and others, holding monthly community dances, game nights and drum circles.  We are limited only by the time, energy and ideas our members bring.  We whole-heartedly invite everyone to participate.  If you like one of these ideas, or have your own, please, feel free to make it happen!  Clearly, no one of us can do all this alone.

Our community resilience is completely dependent upon the web of relationships we build among ourselves.  Everyone has value to bring and we all benefit from our combined cooperation and effort.  We look forward to an exciting 2010 in community at the Crescent Grange.  If you have any questions or comments for TWAB please feel free to contact us on-line or call Don Studinski at 303-248-6677.

The garden at the grange is coming soon, so if you are interested contact Don!

http://transitioncolorado.ning.com/group/transitionwestminster
http://transitioncolorado.ning.com
http://transitionculture.org/
http://www.postcarbon.org/
http://transitiontowns.org/TransitionNetwork/TransitionNetwork
http://www.nwei.org/
http://pachamama.org/
http://awakeningthedreamer.org/

MIKE - successful vs. fruitful

Monday, January 25th, 2010


in our western culture we seem to confuse material wealth and success with the abundant life, promised us in john 10:10. when good things happen in our lives, we proclaim how God has blessed us. as long as it is good it has to be of God. but if it’s something hurtful, harmful or opposite of what we want it must come from some where else. after all, james 1:17 says: “whatever is good and perfect come to us from God above….” but what about those things that we don’t perceive as good? could they come from God as well? and could these things actually be the abundant life that we are promised???

henri nouwen writes in a devotional titled “fruits that grow in vulnerability”:

“there is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. success comes from strength, control and respectability. a successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over it’s development and make it available in large quantities. success brings many rewards and often fame. fruits, however, come from weakness  and vulnerability. and fruits are unique. a child is conceived in vulnerability. community is the fruit born through shared brokenness. and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one an others wounds. let’s remind one another that what brings us joy is not success, but fruitfulness.”

success and riches can, in many ways, make life easier and better, to be sure, but they never guarantee a joyful life. in fact they can become a barrier in our quest to have the life God has for us. j paul getty, who was, before bill gates, the richest man in the world, said two interesting things. when asked how much money was enough he said: “just one dollar more”. he also said: “i would have given all my fortune to have had one of my marriages work”. in contrast, everyone, rich or poor, can experience the joy of fruitfulness. the shared brokenness of community and the intimacy that develops by touching someone’s wounds and having them touch ours is transforming. i know of no greater joy than that of walking through the sorrows of life in the redemptive community of broken people.

if we reads the 10th verse of john we will see that the whole chapter is a comparison between Jesus, the Good Shepherd and us, His sheep, and a  shepherd and his flock. just as the sheep were safe from the wolves if they stayed close to the shepherd and listened to his voice, we, too, will be safe from the powers of darkness, if we stay close and listen to the voice of our Master. i see nowhere in the scripture where we are promised a life of abundance, although some Christ followers may experience this (along with many who do not follow Him). we are, however, promised an abundant life, an eternal life, as we follow Him.
i want my life to be fruitful, not successful.

and just as the jews missed the coming of their Savior, because He didn’t come to earth the way they had expected Him too, i hope will not miss the abundant life we have been promised because it doesn’t look or feel the way we thought it would.

MICHELLE - Conflict, Intimacy and Community

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Conflict. The word itself seems to activate some invisible force field around my heart. Insulating me, protecting me from harm–but ultimately separating me from stepping across to the shared intimacy of true community. My invisible “conflict” shield was most recently exposed when faced with the unexpected dissolution of my 24 year marriage to the man of my dreams.  A great avoider and accommodate-r in conflict, I saw too late how my inability to face conflict in a healthy manner handicapped marital intimacy.  But as such unwelcome lessons go, I am realizing my conflict/intimacy problem goes way beyond my marriage relationship.  It impacts every relationship I have with friends and family, and even limits my ability to truly enjoy being ‘in community’.  (Intimacy here is referring to that sense of closeness and belonging in a relationship.)

These days, learning to be a part of an intentional community is where the break-up of my marriage has led me. (This is definitely one of the good things to come from this personal tsunami!)  I am so grateful to this beautiful group of people at the Refuge for being here with me and my kids.  Our recent Saturday evening conversation on conflict was perfect timing for me. I realize now that I had used conflict as a wall, blocking me from intimacy of the heart in all my relationships. I need a bridge, not a wall.  Is it possible that conflict can be that bridge, instead of the wall I had made it to be? Learning to see conflict as a bridge to intimacy is a whole new concept for me.  I know the song “Love can build a bridge”; but who’s heard of anyone singing that “Conflict can build a bridge”?  Doesn’t exactly stir up warm fuzzy feelings!

If conflict can lead to a true sense of closeness and belonging (conflict intimacy*), I knew I wanted to learn how to build that bridge. But I was missing a step… the step of self-intimacy. Learning to be comfortable ‘in my own skin’ is not easy for me. Even harder has been the lesson to become aware of my own feelings and to accept responsibility for taking care of myself in times of emotional distress. Focusing on the other person’s issues and avoiding conflict, or always accommodating other’s needs around me, was the only way I knew of ‘caring’ for my own feelings.  But doing that kept me from a true sense of closeness and belonging…not a very effective way to have authentic relationships!

As for the conflict bridge to intimacy, I’m learning that stepping away from a relationship in conflict (at least momentarily), gives me a chance to check in with myself.  What am I feeling?  Why? What do I need to do for myself to be ok in this moment? With my self-care needs addressed, I can then approach the conflict with greater self-awareness and clarity.  And a bridge to shared intimacy and true community slowly starts to replace the wall around my heart. (Hmm, I hear a new song in the air ♪.)

(*The Potter-Efrons, of the Relationship Institute have a great section on this in their book on intimacy, 2008.)

MIKE - where’s the doctor?

Monday, October 12th, 2009

this past saturday at the refuge we talked about how faith and doubt can exist in the same situation. it’s a little like the optical illusion images that most of us have seen, the one where you either see a vase or the profile of two people looking at each other. it just depends how we look at the picture/situation. we tend to vacillate back and forth, but we never seem to be able to focus on one or the other for a long period of time.

my brother worked in a hospital when he was in high school. as a janitor, he cleaned the bloody mess after the operations. my dad also told of his experience in world war II. because he signed a form saying he wanted to major in medicine when he went to college, this 18 year old, wet behind the ears, small town boy, was made a medic. he didn’t have a rifle to defend himself with. just a cross on his back which, according to the geneva convention, meant he was off limits to shoot. he thought it sometimes seemed like a target for the enemy to shot at. training was minimal. the best thing a medic had were the packs of morphine to stop the patients’ pain. dad often mused that he didn’t know how many men he helped or how many he killed with the morphine,  he did the best he could.

recently, a safe haven for me has felt like a battlefield. many good people are suffering such traumatic experiences that i had been feeling bad that i seemed to be the only one left standing. that all shifted in late september when i and hundreds of good people were informed that we would probably have no jobs in 2 months. not feeling sorry for myself was pretty easy. i’m in pretty good shape despite my lack of using sound financial processes most of my life. but it will impact my time and my ability to live as i’m accustomed.  the day after receiving this news, i awakened to a text from a friend that i hoped would never come, but i knew in my heart was fairly certain was unavoidable. it simply said: she did commit suicide. my friend and i, both bleeding now, sat crying at starbucks. the tears fell all day until there were no more. my heart breaks for precious friends.

oh, if i could help them. but i’m like my little brother. not a nurse. not a doctor. just a janitor, cleaning up the blood. like my dad giving morphine to stop the pain. waiting for a doctor to come.

that same week i went to a house of refuge hoping to get some love (tourniquets is what i call it for it stops the bleeding) and hope (that would be the morphine that stops the pain.)  the pharmacist there handed out tourniquets and morphine to each of us. i picked up a little more from my friends and left. driving home it  dawned on me that she didn’t get either. i knew i needed to share my hope/morphine with her the next time i saw her.

i took some before i went to bed and things seemed better. when i awoke, as is my habit i checked my e-mail. when i saw a certain name i knew something was wrong. as i opened it up, blood gushed from my computer. the pain poured out of massive wounds. i look around, and the morphine was gone. i’d used some last night, but not all of it. the enemy had taken it while i slept, and there was none to give her.

driving to work that day i knew i needed some God. i was fresh out. as i walked from my car, into the store where i worked,  i was amazed how,  in one day, a place could go from a grocery store to a mortuary. a place of death of dreams. more people bleeding.

i have to leave. i need healing. my friends need healing.  now, i sit in the emergency room. i’m feeling tired and overwhelmed.  but i keep putting dirty tourniquets on and try to tighten others while i look for more morphine. i hear a voice that sounds faintly like mine. it says. “if the Great Physician in in the hospital, would He please come to the emergency room.” i really hope He’s on His way, but sometimes i’m beginning to doubt it.

but then i get these little glimpses that maybe the Doctor really is on His way.  i remember seeing the notes posted on the bulletin board, thanking Him for the care He gave. and then i see a recovery room that is full of healing patients, ready to be discharged.  and i hear the charge nurse say; “He has come here every day since this hospital was built. He just doesn’t seem to be on the same schedule as the rest of us.”

i am betting the Doctor will show up.  He somehow always seems to in the end.  at least that is what i believe right now.

creativity is healing

Monday, September 14th, 2009

“The act of creation is always a solitary one. Others can encourage us to create. They cannot create for us. The man of ten talents needs the same courage as the man of one…. Surely, I reasoned, it must be the magnitude of their gifts that enables artists and scientists and inventors to go on producing when they are rejected and scorned by their own contemporaries. Now I am not so sure that the greatness of the talent has any direct relation to the degree of persistence with which it is developed.
When I become aware of my own gifts and give my attention to communicating what is in me—my own truth, as it were—I have the experience of growing toward wholeness. I am working out God’s “chosen purpose,” and I am no longer dependent on what others think and how they respond. The experience itself is confirming. The response of others can give me pleasure or pain, but it cannot keep me from the act of creating.”

Elizabeth O’Connor, from Inward/Outward

on saturday night at the refuge we had an open share evening, creative works of art, photography, spoken word, video, poetry, songs, and everything in between. it was beautiful. powerful. rich. keith shared something that todd fadel from the bridge in portland said when they were with us this summer: “creativity is healing.” saturday night was healing, not just for those who shared but for those who listened & soaked in our friend’s hearts & passion.
below are some pictures from the evening. more pictures are here.
we didn’t have time to share some responses to the beauty together because of time, so we’d love for you to comment here.

what got stirred up in you?
how did you see God’s beauty reflected?
how was creativity healing?




CHRISTA - That “Natural Food” smell

Monday, July 20th, 2009

There are a few chains of “natural” or “organic” food stores. The ones I’m most familiar with are Whole Foods (some of which go by the name Wild Oats here in Colorado) and a local chain called Vitamin Cottage.

Growing up in a small town in Kansas I didn’t have access to such stores and so when I ventured out to Colorado for college I discovered these stores, their exciting stock, their prices (it was hard for a college kid and now a poor mom to afford!) and their smells.

It’s a smell unlike any other.

Earthy may be a good word.

I think of Vitamins, Minerals, Soil, Clean Dirt and other unnamed but interesting smells.

It isn’t a bad smell.

Just different.

One my nostrils find pleasant, but noticeable.

In college it always meant a treat. That I could go and choose a few items that were healthy and happily made and were good for me and Earth.

It stills means this for me and my family. We currently don’t have any special food needs that require us to go but conscience about animals and earth will take us there as well as the desire to eat well and do our best to be good to our bodies.

These stores still offer food, treats, make-up, all that I could find at any grocery store or market but these stores smell different. These smells have marked my experience of food shopping.

Community (for me specifically within the Refuge) has been a different smell, not always pleasant, always noticeable, to the church smelling part of my nose. And it has marked my experience of church/Jesus/people/relationships/life.

I came to community with a bad smell in my nose. And it was one I couldn’t get rid of. No matter how hard I tried to smell for roses or even got to smell actual ones I couldn’t shake the smell out of my 2 nostrils. My forehead wrinkled at the pungent odors of bad/poor leadership, people/women/children being put down, hypocrisy, judgement, hunger for power, etc. I had smelled these smells for years! Almost 3 decades. And they were sadly more powerful than the good smells that I almost chanced to encounter. I had sniffed togetherness, love, truth, and healing wafting towards me but it seemed they were always smothered.

So, I came hoping (always stupidly hoping [or not so stupid I guess]) that I would smell something different. But, I never did.

Or I never could.

When I began my adventure with community almost 3.5 years ago I could not smell the difference. I looked around and hoped but really felt I was trapped in the same small kitchen where the toast was burning. Again.

I had to leave the kitchen.

For about 3 or 4 months.

And I tell you the air was fresh in my lungs and my nose enjoyed it. I really liked this smell. And then something shifted. I’m not sure what. I’ve been trying to pinpoint it and I can’t. Maybe it really did come in with the wind. But I was ready to try once more community. So I came back.

It smelled the same, but wait…also different…I smelled chaos, honesty, confusion, healing, prettiness and ugliness. All at the same time. All of the smells doing their best to co-exist. And, for the most part, they do.

I stepped out into a kitchen that was structurally the same. Same foundation, same walls and 2×4’s, but the burnt toast smell had been aired out. Someone had opened the window and painted the walls and put out fresh hand towels.

I was still me.
Smelling with my nose.
The community was largely made up of the same people.
I began to make friends.
Share myself.
Share my story.
Listen.
Listen.
Smell.
Smell.

Sometimes the smell of the chaos does sting my nose and makes my eyes water. Sometimes my eyes water because of the stink, but sometimes my eyes water because of the beauty.

For me, the truest community that I have experienced has been the strange natural foods store.

Shelves lines with food.
Silver, metal carts to wheel around.
Beeps as the checkers run the items over the scanner.

Community is still Jesus.
Still spreading his love, his hope, his story, his gospel, his good news.
Chairs full of people.
A table with bread and juice.

Still a church.

Maybe though, real community also has some items on the shelves…
Hope
Honesty
Open Brokenness
Open Healing
Shared Power
Equality is pursued
All natural people…no extra additives…or we’re striving to get them out of our system.

Community smells different.
Not bad, just different and it has marked my life.

a few thoughts on community

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

here are a few thoughts to ponder as we focus on “community” over the next few weeks at our saturday gatherings.

“ We shouldn’t seek the ideal community. It is a question of loving those whom God has set beside us today. They are signs of God. We might have chosen different people, people who were more cheerful and intelligent. But these are the ones God has given us, the ones he has chosen for us. It is with them that we are called to create unity and live a covenant. We choose our own friends; but in our families, we do not choose our brothers and sisters; they are given to us. So it is in community life.”  Jean Vanier

“When Jesus sent his disciples out on mission, he told them to be poor, to take nothing with them. And he told them to do things that were impossible for them to do all by themselves. So it is for all missions. Communities and their members are called to be poor and to do impossible things, such as to build community and to bring healing, reconciliation, forgiveness and wholeness to people. Mission is to bring the life of God to others, and this can only be done if communities and people are poor and humble, letting the life of God flow through them.” – Jean Vanier

What are some of your responses to these thoughts on community?