By Tom & Carol Braford
I recently read the book, Mere Christianity, by CS Lewis that was originally a series of radio broadcasts near the end of World War II. At the time in 1939, the Church, the whole community of believers, had already lapsed in the practice of the Golden Rule of the New Testament “do to others what you would have them do to you”.
He said it was never intended to replace or supersede the ordinary human arts and sciences. Rather, it was an approach where people listened for a call to a particular mission or profession and were supported in fulfilling on it by the community of believers. Perhaps the initial Church was more effective because it was a comprehensive community that first existed with people living somewhat communally, sharing resources and supporting each other and those in need.
Kind of sounds like a modern Urban Ecovillage, doesn’t it? After WWII, society responded by having the state or others provide for those needs. If CS Lewis were alive today, he would probably say that the devil is at work again, tempting us with pairs of opposites that are at either end of the spectrum that lead us astray. At the time, he used an example that seems relevant now: totalitarianism at one end of the spectrum and individualism at the other. Being tempted by either, he said, leads to damnation for not just individuals but society as a whole.
The solution is still communities of loving practice that support each other in doing to others and to nature and the environment, which of course is all part of God’s Creation, as we would have them do to us and as we want for our children and grandchildren and those of all species to the 7th generation and beyond.
If you would like to live, work, practice and worship in such a community, please contact us. We are currently creating a faith-based non-profit to help facilitate this called, The Mustard Seed Project. The Bible says that if we have the faith of a grain of mustard seed, we can move mountains.
Contact: braford@sbcglobal.net
www.ArizmendiEcovillage.com