Apparently...

Well it seems

Who Should Paint You: Salvador Dali

You're a complex, intense creature who displays many layers.There's no way a traditional portrait could ever capture you!

What Artist Should Paint Your Portrait?

From the looks of it I'm not too easy to capture.

Burrfoot

Who should paint you?

Who Should Paint You: Gustav Klimt

Sensual and gorgeous, you would inspire an enchanting portrait.. With just enough classic appeal to be hung in any museum!

What Artist Should Paint Your Portrait?

New Listening

I got home yesterday to find my latest music purchase "From the Six Corners" by The Players had arrived. Cool. Funky UK urban soul.
I am a happy camper!

And finally we are famous! The Brisbane Catholic diocese has used our communities story as a part of their Lenten Resource site. Check it out here.

Going green and community

One my of goals for Lent was to eat less meat and better quality food over all.
So we’ve taken up buying our fruit and Vege from “An Organic Experience”, our meat from “Meatlovers” and loads of fantastic European products from the “Re Store” (Which has the added value of avoiding many additives which have been banned overseas, but are still in loads of Aussie foods…)

Too early to say if we feel better physically yet, but it is nice to go to a store where people know you, give the kids a chocky, and there is no awful background music…

Stay away from those Supermarkets I think. They’ll do your head in. Not to mention your body.

Christ and the chocolaterie

A bit breezy today - Please don't be upset...

For Lent, we have begun using "Christ and the Chocolaterie", by Hilary Brand. It is a study guide to the movie "Chocolat" and picks up many Lenten themes. In my spirit of Lent, we are going slow and not pushing ourselves. We are taking two weeks just to watch it, and then we'll gradually work our way through the text.

The movie is set in Pre-Vatican 2 France, a bastion of conservative Catholicism. Fasting is to be practice hard and fast. To give into temptation is a sin. We must suffer for Christ. etc etc.
The whole community lives a penetential 6 weeks before Easter comes, and are "Free again".

Surely this is to miss the point. To be fruitful, fasting should be part of the re-orientation process, which I believe is what Lent is all about. (As in "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel...). We should (In an ideal world) each fast from what binds us, to drop its attachment, and see its power over us. But we are so self indulged that any sort of moderation - whether it be in eating, drinking, exercise, technology, sex - seems foreign to us.
Painful.
Perhaps even dangerous.

And I include myself here. I don't WANT to fast. Or give anything up. I like to eat and drink. And be merry. But I love God more. And if I am serious about entering into God's mystery, then history shows (and my limited, flawed experience tells me), fasting is helpful

On another note, the Irish Jesuits rock. Pray as You Go is an awesome site. Daily reflective mediations on the Gospel of the Day, one for each day of Lent.
I have been using the End of the Day prayer each night before sleep. It is fab

Hidden-ness

I finally got my self a copy of “Emerging Churches” by Gibbs and Bolger. It’s a good read. At this point in our communities journey it is good to read that we are

(1) not alone in doing the small community thing and
(2) that the issues we face are the same that others have, and continue to face.

But, perhaps it’s just me, but I run into problems with this sort of thing. The minute we put something down in print we give it a pseudo endorsement, both of the subject of the text and of the authors as knowledgeable about the issue. I would hate to think that others new to the movement or whatever we call it, feel this book sums it up.
New communities (new monasticism, emergent church, missional communities, take your pick really…) are all “emerging” (whatever that means) because we are on the way to something – a new way of being church. By definition we can’t be there yet and not many people I know think they have got it all worked out anyway!

That said, and the fact that I was sad there was so little of Oceanic groups mentioned (although they do state why…). This book is terrific in analysing the present state of the movement by allowing emergent church leaders to tell their story and offering their opinions. It avoids being too academic and I loved the bios of the contributors- many of whose blogs I read. I can really, really recommend it.
5 people are lined up to borrow mine!

Which leads me to hidden-ness. Did I feel we needed to be in there? Have those communities mentioned in the book noticed people beating down their doors to
“Have a look”? (Nothing can disturb a community’s life more! Look at the changes Taize has had to make over the years to accommodate their visitors). What will the long-term ramifications of this book be to these communities spiritual growth? How missional and open can you be and still maintain a communities integrity and strength of life? How many awesome communities were not listed? Should they have been?

Turning to our community’s monastic foundations, I think of all the little known monks and nuns through the years who have been hidden away, and yet whose prayers and mere presence have been powerful forces in the world.
We will never know who they are, no matter how intune with God they are, but they make the way clear before us.

I think this is what I wish for our community.
To be hidden, not drawing attention to our selves, getting on with being Gods people in our context, but still being open to the next challenge, the next person.

But I still check the blog stats to see how many people are checking us out!

Oh Vanity!

A Go Slow Thought

All good things start small and get smaller.

Dan Berrigan

Ash Wednesday

Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

Turn Away from sin, and be faithful to the gospel.

God is gracious and merciful...slow to anger, rich in kindness and relenting in punishment,"

Keeping Track.

I led staff devotions at my school today. Usually I try to do something different than the break into groups and pray, or just the pray outloud thing. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but my experience with the Monastic tradition gives me a chance to share some of that spirituality – often with those who have no experience of it.

Last time I did a simple Lauds. Today I used the Sacred Space website to stimulate some pre-lent reflection. It was a good experience. I am always amazed at how the people you think are not going to get it do –and then tell you about it!

It got me thinking about what I am going to do for Lent. This year it seems more vital than ever. I am worn. There is sin to deal with (I don’t say that lightly or over –zealously. It is a mere fact.) I need to move forward. Now.

Instead of a whole lot of rules my plan is to make Lent – Be good to your self Lent.
Before you self-disciplined young people take me up on lent being a period of self denial, and self discipline, let me explain.

For me to be good to myself, I need to be disciplined and practice denial. The way it playing out in my mind at the moment I can see some of these things taking place:

Get enough sleep. Go to bed at a reasonable hour.
Exercise daily. Forget about weight loss and concentrate on getting my physical self healthy.
Eat Better. I like to eat so be healthy. Less meat. More organic food.
Take reflection time. Daily.Pray. Think. Confess. Reflect.
Stop doing things that take me away from myself, my family and God. Like too much internet. Like being grumpy. Like being restless. Like Sin. Deal with these things.

I figure if I have a shot, I may well get somewhere.
I am not going to beat myself up over this.
Lent is a time to get things right. It will take time.
I trust. I pray.
I have a community to support me.

7's

My bro sent me the challenge: Answer the 7’s!

The Sevens

Seven things to do before I die
Live in Italy
Change Jobs
Release a solo album – its time!
Save
Own a Peugeot
Live in residential community
See my children happy and fulfilled as adults

Seven things I cannot do
Draw.
Be tough.
Be kind to myself.
Not pray.
Find the perfect faith community for me.
Play violin.
Swim well.

Seven things that attract me to my wife
Her voice.
Her music.
Her compassion.
Her kindness.
Her love.
Giving life to our children.
Her...

Seven things I most often say
G’day…
How ya doin'?
O.K…
Stop that…
Would you like a drink…?
Staying for dinner?
Can I ask you something?
Noah!

Seven books I love
The Earthsea Trilogy
Genesee Diary
Mystic Heart
The Rule of St Benedict
The top 1000 Albums
The Elenium Series
The Dark is Rising sequence

Seven Albums I couldn't do without:
Revolver - The Beatles
Style Council Box Set
The Jam Box set
Little Feat - Sailing shoes
The Royal Scam - Steely Dan
Live Wood - Paul Weller
Whos Next - The Who

Seven People I want to join in too...
Matt
Shelle
Jason
Pete
Timmsy
Malcolm

Michelle's Sevens:
Seven things to do before I die
Get Married
Have children
Learn to play guitar
Learn to drive a bus
Change schools
Go to Tasmania
Own a pet

Seven things I cannot do
Draw.- I with you on this one Chris
Sit still
Stay off the computer
Be satisfied with my prayer life
Be totally organised
Say NO when I should
Stop gossiping

Seven things I most often say
Are you sure that's ok?
Ta
I'd love to stay for dinner.
You have a choice...
Crap!
I'm going on camp...
You're an angel
Thanx

Seven books I love
The Narnia Chronicles
When the war began series
The notebook
A walk to remember
Possum magic
The horse whisperer
Commotion in the Ocean

Seven Albums I couldn't do without:
Looking for Coco-Coralie Kan
All right here- Sara Groves
Woman's worship CD
The Sound of White- Missy Higgins
Looking for Coco- the car copy!!
ABC dance hits
Omba baroomba

Seven People I want to join in too...
Cozie
Rose
Rachael
Matt
Jason
Pete
Linda

Meals

To be blunt, I think sharing a meal is the mainstay of community life.

For years, we met after dinner for coffee, cake, and prayer (sounds very Anglican now!) But since all our kids have arrived, dinner and wine are the order of the day.
And what a difference it has made. We eat, do the dishes together, learn each others tastes and favourites.

And of course, meals lend themselves to other things. Like talk. And laughter. Serious discussion. And more laughter. Theological reflection. And laughter. And wine. And Laughter. And sometimes even good advice…!

So share a meal with those people you love. And do it regularly.
The results can be truly astounding!

Intentional

Last night we met and discussed what we as a community would like to be intentional about.
We read this great blog entry at ThPM community, and applied its wisdom, and similarities, to our little family. As I recall, we thought it would be good if we were intentional about:

• Wine
• Being relaxed
• Being honest, and being a safe place for honesty
• Sharing meals
• Caring for each other
• Our weird liturgical calander: Lenten Study, Passover, Easter in New Norcia, Christmas Dinner

Sound good to me. Feels good too as I write it. We are good for one another. We also discussed being better listeners, and why we come here anyway. This type of talking is gppd for us early in the year as we begin to meet more frequently again. It reminds us of many things, and of our shared history, and just how far we have come...

Gathered for the Wedding

The community gathered for Matt and Linda's Wedding.

St. Scholastica

St. Scholastica, sister of St. Benedict

Feb 10 is her Feast Day.

Interview 1

I'll be interviewing some of the community over of the next few weeks.
Here's the first one!

CK (Chris Kan asking questions)
ck (Chris Kan giving answers)

How long have you been in the community?
About 8 years, from when we started meeting as the dreaded bible study home group.

Is there a high point of community life?
I think sharing life very closely is a gift. It is also hard work. Getting to know people at a truly deep level, almost beyond the like/dislike idea, to really love and be loved for who we are.

Any peak experiences?
I think the retreat in New Norcia is 2004 was peak. It was when we decided to be a community and extend our lives a bit. Also, every Easter spent together is like, wow, we DO get on?

A low point?
Umm 1998 and the moment all the community remember VERY clearly.....

Challenges for the future?
Being open to new people without "comprimising" our history, whilst at the same time allowing the spirit to move us forward.

Favourite music?
Steely Dan, Paul Weller, and at the moment I am into Little Feat.

From Monkfish Abbey

This sort of sums us up too...

We are a group of friends and acquaintances. We are people who help each other move. We paint each other’s bathrooms. We make birthday cakes. We are people who want to recognize that time is not a renewable resource, it matters how you spend it We want to know the new lady with the little girl who moved in next door. The guy in the next cubical. The dreadlock barista at the coffee shop. The yoga teacher with the cool chimes. The plumber at our worksite. The outrageous waiter with the t-shirt that says, “I’m Gay.. Don’t Tell Anyone.” We are people who like life. We are artists. We are computer programmers. We are parents. We are beer lovers. We are people who fight, who laugh, get bored, get inspired. We make music; we make soup. We laze around in the sun; we play scrabble in the rain. We listen to loud music; we go with each other to get tattoos. We read good novels; we learn about wine and cheese. We are explorers. We are people who want to worship God, and talk to God, and listen to God. We are people who readily admit we are not entirely sure what that means. We are people who learn not from a leader, but from one another. We blow dust off of old books, we reform old beliefs. We uncover ancient practices and make them our own. We say, “I was wrong,” We look twice at something that catches our eye. We seek.

Back to Basics

School and work are back.
And so is the community life.
Vespers on a Monday.
All together on Wednesday.
Drinks on a Friday (sometimes)
Breakfast on a Saturday.
Sharing each others lives -
the highs and lows,
the good and bad.

Lent

Lent is just over a month away...

What are you doing for Lent?
What am I doing for Lent?

Let us know...

Don't Give Up

I read this on Alan Creech’s awesome site.
It seems quite good advice for all of us living the community hope:

How do you start and "build" a small community like this?

You do it and you do it and you do it. You keep on and on and on.
You don't give up.
You never quit. You assess and reassess.
You listen and pray and talk to people.
You go through pain and frustration and more pain and more frustration (that part has never stopped).
You know why you are doing what you are doing.
You do what you believe to be the right thing.
You remain open to the Holy Spirit to correct you, internally and through others. You reject modern notions of "success" and keep on going anyway, even when they say you're a failure, even when you think you're a failure.

Retreat Day 2

So quiet here.
Great two hour walk through the property, then a swim and a few pints of James Squires at the New Norcia pub.

I am feeling a little flat today.
So many things I want to think about, do, be etc etc.
The good thing about being here is that the silence, prayer and balance give space for the issues to come to the surface, and an opportunity to deal with them more carefully and deeply than in the hurley burley of running around being teacher, dad, husband, friend etc etc

I have a few good chats with Malcolm, the minister at Coralie's church, who has come here for the first time. His views on Chritian life are refreshing and full of vigiour and vibe. We don't always agree, but dialogue bvery quickly helps you to clarrify your own position.

Some books I've been reading here are:

Beyond the Walls : Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Life

Light through Darkness