I Peter 2:5: "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."Living Stones is a non-geographical Christian contemplative community. We take our name from the metaphor of living stones in I Peter 2:5 because we are committed to being the kind of spiritual community pictured in this section of Scripture and throughout the New Testament. Our community is not a church and is not aligned with any particular denomination. As a Christian community, we seek to support the work of the
By non-geographical
we mean simply that we are not tied to a particular location or
building.
Although at times as many of us as are able may communicate by phone,
travel to
gather in small groups, or travel to meet in whole community
conferences, we
are widely dispersed and we see ourselves primarily as a web-based
community,
connected not by geographical proximity but by our common spiritual
commitment
and our commitment to engaging one another online through our blog.
In describing
ourselves as contemplative,
we refer to our commitment to live our lives in and from the spiritual
center
in faithful responsiveness to the unfolding action of God’s presence in
us and
the world. We seek to practice a spirituality that is present and open
to God
beyond thoughts, words, emotions, and images. We seek to honor the
Spirit of
God at our center and seek to maintain that center empty of all else.
It is a
spirituality that is simple, non-dramatic, and profound; it is an
exercise in
pure faith. We seek for this openness to God at the center of our lives
to
animate and inform all of the other aspects of our lives—our prayer,
spiritual
practices, and everyday activities. Thus our way of life is oriented by
silence, humility, and depth. We see our heritage as including the
Desert Ammas
and Abbas, the Cloud of Unknowing,
John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, and many other figures
throughout church
history who have sought to be radically open and responsive to the
Spirit in a
contemplative way.
In calling ourselves
a community,
we mean that we find meaning and support in belonging to one another in
a
simple but explicit way. It provides us a sense of identity and
mutuality. Ours
is a “little way.” We don’t seek to draw energy or resources toward
ourselves
in a demanding manner. On a practical level, belonging to our community
means
committing to our core values and practices and to the community-making
work of
relating and dialoguing with each other through our blog. In terms of
our
annual commitment, we maintain an “open hand,” ready to “let go” and
honor and
love those who feel they should practice other ways of connecting and
journeying into God.
