Intentional Communities

In the book, Coming of Age At the End of Nature, A Generation Faces Living on a
Changed Planet, the essay “Could Mopping Save the World?” by Emily Schosid was a worthwhile read. The subheading is “How Day-to-Day Chores Can Bring Big Changes.” In a culture that praises rapidity and instant gratification, too often the beauty in the mundane tasks of life are overlooked. In the essay, the writer talks about her experience with the Lama Spiritual Community that is also an educational facility, and retreat center in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. The reason I enjoy this piece is that Emily Schosid entered the community hoping to change

the world by bringing in new technology: rainwater catchment systems, solar heating,

and the like, but found that members of the community were not interested in solar panels, rather they are interested more in building and fostering healthy relationships. They did daily house chores: mopping, washing dishes, and keeping the area tidy, but Emily Schosid would be disappointed that Lama beans (what they referred to themselves as) were not doing actual work like her colleagues of academia. Her colleagues are doing work such as researching a master thesis, or working for big organizations both governmental and nongovernmental.

I am most interested in the way the Lama community practices silence and looks to spiritual “practice and tuning” because today’s generation is noisy with so much media, music, and even chit-chat. My generation has lost touch with the beauty and transformative power of silence and forgets that God speaks to us in the silence. Emily Schosid concludes her essay with the realization that community building is something that takes time and a lot of effort. She recognizes the importance of appreciation and gratitude when she wrote, “Even just the small gesture of thanking each other makes the chores at Lama seem better” (p. 204). Further she wrote, “In mopping a floor, I’m not just the person making the floor clean. I am giving something tangible back to the community of which I am part,” this quote brings importance to almsgiving (p. 204-205). More than appreciation, “the genuine care for one another and for the land….led to fulfilling relationships with other people, with the land, and with the divine. These relationships drive the desire for a continued existence” (p. 205). At the base of a lasting community are the efforts to create authentic relationships.

Megan, a community member, would start each day saying positive and encou-raging things like, “May we serve our community today with love and grace,” and “Today may we set the intention to serve with love and joy.” I love the word intention. Especially when one practices intentional living. To me, intentional living is when the heart and mind work together to choose the path of love. Not for the sake of self-gratification, but for the sake of authentic love of neighbor. People want love and acceptance from their community members and I get that a lot in the ENST community. Coming of age is a beautiful way of understanding the transition of a child into maturity. Many mistake the idea of coming of age as a loss of innocence, but it is more of a gain in wisdom. Maturity comes with great responsibility.