Our Life Together Vol. 3 Nr. 42, November 4, 1975

Ken continues his articles on things that make for peace. In this article he emphasizes commitment. His definition of commitment really fits in with other teaches about purpose, such as Rick Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life." When we are committed to someone (Jesus) or something (the community), that is the one thing; all else can be excluded. During those years, commitment was a big issue. People who left or who turned back were seen as not committed. Another facet of this article is that it demonstrated how we really saw ourselves as counter-cultural. "Go and sell all . . . ," said Jesus. We were those who obeyed the hard commands of Jesus. We gave our all in order to be good disciples. Certainly those really were days of internal peace; we knew that we were doing the will of God and nothing else mattered.
Bobby Dyal brings up the issue of brokenness which was discussed a lot at FBCCV.
Clay wrote a touching article about Barry, "Barry we love you." When this was posted on FB, there were a number of comments on this. Evidently Barry was loved within the household. I don't really remember him, but the article reflects a real truth about our living situation. We really did love one another. We comment a lot about submission and authority, but the glue that held the households together was love. I have written about the fact that we needed to learn to let go when someone left. Many thought that we created a feeling of guilt in the heart of anyone who left. Although there is some truth to that allegation, it is really more than that. When someone left, it was something like a divorce. My family grieved when we moved out of Westby Household. The people there were not "like" family, they were family. Whenever I see or talk with one of the people that we lived with, it is like family reunion. This needs to be understood when discussing our life together.
A nice illustration of my last paragraph.
Larry expresses another facet of our life together at that time. We really did not want to become embittered people; we wanted to live in joy and blessing. We also blessed those who were opposed to us. He sums it up with this sentence, "Lord, continue to give us hearts that bless our enemies and lips that prise You as we face the challenge of the days before us."

I remember Cherie MacArthur so well. When I got out of the Navy, she was still a petty officer on active duty. She was having a problem with her boss (a CPO) and I used to get up every morning a pray with her before work.
I have vague memories of this letter written by Kathy Yoder, but I don't specifically remember her. This is a real neat letter in support of the community. I know that this letter is written from the "inside", but there was a lot of support from "outside" even here in Chula Vista.

I also remember well when Ken was sick with his equilibrium problems. I relate to this because for the last couple of weeks, this has afflicted me also. I also relate to Ken's reflections on the frailty of life since I have had a heart attack and a stroke, yet still going strong.
Abbacraft in Elementary Schools illustrates the principle that we really wanted to be of service within the community. We weren't doing it to gain political clout or really to curry favor with the people. This was just the way that we understood that we were to serve Jesus.