featured blog: Every Home a Monastery

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from Every Home a Monastery:

"I firmly believe it is important for us as Christians, as people, to work together and support one another. I do not think God intended us to be alone, extremely isolated, or wanted us to desire to need no one else. We were made for community. The Holy Trinity is a community. The desire to want to be completely self-sufficient and depend, rely on, or need no one else goes against how we were made. What a sad, cold world we would have if we all became self-sufficient.

My thoughts on this do not mean I am against homesteading. I think it is important for many of us to get back in touch with past skills lost: growing our own food, having farm animals (for those of us who can ), making our own bread, canning, etc. Wanting to move to the middle of no where in isolation and depend on no one else for anything, that idea is what I think is wrong. It is an idea that is popular among Christians, and large families, and one I think people should really think through. We’ve had to due to our circumstances and I am glad we have.

Besides the beautiful scenery and peaceful life I can imagine in Hobbiton, another appealing idea is the closeness of the hobbits. A closeness that is annoying at times, cumbersome even, but we see in Tolkien’s stories the beauty and true gift of friendship. Friendship is a constant theme and is woven throughout all of his writing. The need for community, the need to rely on others to get you through, the need to find hope through others when you want to give up.

“But it does not seem that I can trust anyone,’ said Frodo.

Sam looked at him unhappily. ‘It all depends on what you want,’ put in Merry. ‘You can trust us to stick with you through thick and thin–to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours–closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Part of forming friendships is supporting one another, working together, building a community with each other. Families and monasteries do this on small scales, and we also need to enter into the larger communities we live in. Building a better world will only happen if we strive to build it together.

“Living by faith includes the call to something greater than cowardly self-preservation.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien

For now these wannabe Hobbits are going to keep learning homesteading skills, hopefully get a small garden growing this year, continue to try and support local businesses, and keep blogging our little adventure here in Saint Nazianz, Wisconsin. Right now, I am going to go plant my tomatoes. I’ll let you know how it goes."