Hospitality IV

This is the final post in the Hospitality series. I can hardly wait to tell you the news: three new members are living with us. The next post will introduce them.

Living generously

Being available to others is one of the principles we want to focus on in the community and I see it as an expression of generosity in common life. In the long run it is also important to look after oneself and spend time apart charging one’s batteries. God’s generosity is always available to us in His presence, but we cannot practically offer our every waking moment. Thankfully in a community it is easier at any given time to find someone who is free to give of their time.

These are still early days for us and we expect the first members to move into Lunesdale Community in the summer 2017. Already now we have implemented many details and routines in daily life which are preparing the way for a generous way of life in which giving your time counts: opening up, being present, serving others and valuing each moment and conversation. Since the beginning we have tried to create a pattern of life where these concepts exist naturally as part of common and private life. Stability, commitment and the support of the community can help us with being faithful to these aims.

Sunday walk to Crook O’Lune:
enjoying each other’s company 
and celebrating a summer’s day
at a picnic.

Spiritual gifts to share

The Rule of Taizé mentions spiritual generosity, which means sharing your own discoveries. One of the main ideas of Lunesdale Community is seeking spiritual and personal growth and also sharing these fruits with others. We hope to extend this as wide as possible in the future and organise open events where the themes of growth are discussed.

Many guests come through our door and some are not Christians while others are the cornerstones of their congregations. Many of them are for ever trying to arrange space in their lives to pause regularly in front of God. At Lunesdale Community everyone is invited to stop twice a day for half an hour for the common prayer. The evening prayer is also open to people in the village. We sing songs from Taizé, read a short Bible passage and spend a long period in silence. This tried and tested format helps both newcomers and those familiar with it to calm down and offer the time to God.

A friend says that if you make time and space for God in your life, he will never be outdone in generosity. What I would like to communicate to others is that through nurturing the spiritual life it becomes possible to find some clarity, wisdom and courage to make one’s own choices which are directed by seeking one’s own vocation and God’s will and recognising one’s gifts. In our community, in regular times of prayer we offer the space for becoming aware of God’s whispers in the silence of the heart and the time to let a response mature. The common prayer is perhaps the most valuable thing we have to offer. It is an essential part of the generous way of life in which we open our lives to our neighbours.

Anna