My good friend, Jeromy, has built a community with other like-minded individuals living under one roof, the goal of which is putting into practice their vision of Christianity (humble life, service, smoking pot). He explains it much better, so I'll let him do it.
A reporter from the LA Times heard about their little venture and decided to do a story on it which just came out. She visited a few times over the course of a year to get a good feel for just what the community was about. Jeromy responded to the article as he felt that the story places too much emphasis on the conflict that is going to inevitably ensue when people live together.
I feel like he is being too critical of the article, though. Perhaps it is because I know him so well, but I did not get that vibe. To me, it seemed a story of genuine human beings attempting to carve a new path in their lives that would lead to something greater than themselves. Of course there are going to be bumps in the road, but reading about the community helping a homeless guy, or giving two battered women with kids a place to stay one night, or giving a recovering meth addict a home gives me hope that there are good people in the world and that if people come together they can make a difference. There are so many of our fellow human beings who need a hand and it is heartwarming to see people attempting to step up and fill that void.
I applaud Jeromy and everyone else in his community for taking a stab at this. As the article makes clear, it has not been easy. But, then, how many good things are?
And, I can't mention the story without noting that if you look through the photo gallery accompanying it, specifically the second pic, you will see a dorky cool looking guy on the right that may or may not bear a striking resemblance to yours truly. Step one on my road to fortune and glory.
Oh, and no, Jeromy and company are not crazy hippies. If that wasn't clear to anyone who read anything from the links above. Although, I suppose if that wasn't clear to you, I'm probably not going to be able to convince you otherwise.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Crazy Hippies
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Thanks for the post. In hind sight, I may have been responding to the readers' comments as much as the article itself, which is a mistake. Did you read some of them? I am now enlightened: we're horrible parents, ignorant do-gooders, and oh yeah- not "real" Christians. Obviously we dismiss these comments, but it's odd being labels these ways nonetheless.
Yeah, I read a few pages of the comments. I rolled my eyes at most of them. It's easy to be an internet tough guy. I think that most of them are just uncomfortable with the fact that other people are trying to live a better life whatever that may be while they sit around worrying about their own selfish needs.
Post a Comment