Why is living in community so darn appealing!?

Okay, seriously, I had no intention of this once-a-month blogging. I really was being facetious. But in my defense, I have been extremely tied up as of late.

I spent the first week in March in the Caribbean. I had two onsite visits; one in Castaner, Puerto Rico and one in St. Croix. Then once I got back, I had a ton of work waiting for me. Then last Sunday, all of us in BVS , stateside, began our mid-year retreat. Actually, the retreat unofficially started on Saturday afternoon when volunteers from all over began streaming into our house in Elgin. So we did the only logical thing... host a massive ice cream party.

On Sunday, after attending church at Highland Avenue CoB, we went to Dickson Valley Camp, for an absolutely wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable retreat. It was so nice to be detached from my e-mail, cell phone, and work. It really made me want, more than ever, to look into viable options for living in community with whomever shares the same value of communal living.

So the proverbial question is, why is living in community so darn appealing? I think the simple answer to this incredibly complex question was answered by my fellow BVSers who live in the BVS house in our nation's capital: "Together we make a stronger whole." I truly feel that this is why living in community is attractive to me. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama put it: "... Living in a community is rather like living in an enormous family that meets our needs." But is this style of living really practical in today's society? What does this really look like in practice?

Sort of related, are the other big things on my mind currently: (1) What is that which without, I couldn't possibly live? (2) When am I happiest in life?