Week 12 (Year 4, NL)

Our brains are wired to allow us to read each other's minds, to feel each other's person.

Several years ago I met in D.C. with a group of young evangelical professionals. While certainly not world-fleeing fundamentalists, they were not theocrats either. They were seeking an alternative approach.

Calling the roll is easier than following the leader.

George MacLeod, founder of the Iona Community, said that in order to form community, people must be engaged in a “demanding common task.” In his case the task was to rebuild the accommodation areas of Iona Abbey. The group that he led included people with considerable formal education, as well as people with little education. These men and women formed community out of purpose and in difficult conditions; they shared what they had and learned from each other. They built with stone and with their lives, even though they could not know what the results of their work would be.