The Power of Three
About two years ago a friend of mine introduced me to a word that radically reshaped my faith and understanding of God. It’s the word Elohim. It’s God’s first expression of himself in Scripture. What is unique about this word is that its plural. God’s first expression to humanity in the story is of someone in community.
A little later in the story, humanity is created in His image. We carry the Imago Dei. And as I began to connect to the reality that I am created in his image, I began to see that I am designed for community. And much of life is working out the relationship with community.
In community we have the power of three. We’re not alone. We’re not without help. We’re not lonely. In community we have a voice that reminds us of where we are breaking ourselves, where we’re losing what it means to be created in the image of God. In community we have the wonderful smile that reflects our Father’s image back to us. We can see love. But community requires that we reciprocate and move beyond our own selfish interests. To live in community we have to let go of what we want to discover a much larger picture, one of community that is interdependent. It requires that we be love to those around us, to give back what we have received.
As I was writing this I even thought about the fact that Jesus didn’t die alone. He died in a community of three.
This desire for community has led my wife and I to explore community in our home. We’re asking what it would look like to live in a community setting on a full time basis. This desire began a long time ago when my wife went to L’Abri in Switzerland. L’Abri was started by Francis Schaeffer as almost a precursor to New Monasticism. He asked how we create places of refuge, a place to come and experience community that feeds the soul.
My wife and I are exploring the idea of a wholistic retreat center that would focus on generative family living. How do we create a space where families can explore community, spiritual formation, wholistic living practices, organic eating and reflection. We’ve actually spent time exploring land in and around the area of Sacramento. This idea will take time and God opening some significant doors. But we’re willing to wait.
The tension in a new monastic community is that we have to give up our lifestyle. We have to give up our safe space that allows us to hide. And the longer I follow Jesus the more I realize that I don’t want a place to hide. I don’t want a lifestyle that will keep me from missing community. I need a space that will keep me connected to community in ways that are not always fun but good for me.
—————————————————————————————-
This post is part of a synchroblog on New Monasticism. You can find more insights in the posts below.
Phil Wyman at Phil Wyman’s Square No More
Beth at Until Translucent
Adam Gonnerman at Igneous Quill
Steve Hayes at Notes from the Underground
Sally Coleman at Eternal Echoes
Brian Riley at at Charis Shalom
Cobus van Wyngaard at My Contemplations
Mike Bursell at Mike’s Musings
David Fisher at Cosmic Collisions
Alan Knox at The Assembling of the Church
Sam Norton at Elizaphanian
Erin Word at Decompressing Faith
Sonja Andrews at Calacirian
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
-
Bryan Riley
-
Beth
-
Peggy
-
Alan Knox
-
jonathanbrink
