Peace by Piece - day one

Snapshots from day one of the Peace by Piece conference:

* The Dogon Team talked about the importance of commitment (to each other, to a place, to common values) in the formation of intentional community - and how that very commitment can be what scares us from pursuing intentionality.

* Karen Sloan reminded us of the cloud of witnesses of early Church leaders, and what we can learn from their writings. A highlight from the Rule of St. Augustine:

The Lord grant that you may observe all these precepts in a spirit of charity as lovers of spiritual beauty, giving forth the good odor of Christ in the holiness of your lives: not as slaves living under the law but as men living in freedom under grace.

* Ragan Sutterfield explored the relationship of soil & shalom, and asked us to consider what it means (and doesn't mean) for a person to flourish. We discussed seasons, presence, cultivation, rest, humility and grace.

* Peter Rollins made us laugh and think... and laugh... I took some video, but it is slow to upload on this hotel connection, so you may have to practice the discipline of patience. Here is an extremely rough misquotation of one of my favorite parts of his talk:

Spiritual direction, journaling, community, etc. brings the story we tell ourselves about ourselves in line with the reality of ourselves.