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I recently read an article about a group of people in our area who want to develop a property as a cohousing community. I found a wikipedia entry that defines cohousing as a kind of intentional community composed of private homes with full kitchens, supplemented by extensive common facilities. A cohousing community is planned, owned and managed by the residents, groups of people who want more interaction with their neighbours.

Personally, I love this idea. In American society, which I would argue has become too disconnected and independent, I think cohousing is a reasonable response to some of our problems. It represents a better use of resources, and a rediscovery of what we use to know as "neighborhood." Some close friends and I have talked seriously about creating such a community ourselves.

A healthy community can become just like family. For many, whose experiences of family have not been all that great, a healthy experience of community is far better than their experience of family. But as powerful an idea as is community, there is a connection available to us that surpasses even what we gain by living and sharing life together. Jesus himself once said,

"Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matthew 12:48-50 (NIV)

What is Communion?

In church circles, the term communion is closely associated with the Lord's supper: The ceremonial act of consuming bread and wine together as a memorial of the sacrifice made for us by Jesus. The bread and wine symbolize, respectively, his broken body and his blood. Communion has become virtually synonymous with the Lord's supper, but the term itself encompasses much more than that one practice.

To put it rather simply, communion is just what it sounds like: A common union. A union is a relationship in which two individual entities become, functionally, practically, and spiritually, one entity. Marriage, for example, unites two people as one. But marriage is not a common union, inasmuch as marriage is quite exclusive. Marriage involves "forsaking all others 'til death do us part," which effectively defines the relationship as existing only between the bride and groom. In that relationship, which involves a shared household, mutual identity, and sexual expression, the exclusivity of the union is part of its healthy function.

A common union is a oneness held in common by many. The Bible often describes God or Jesus as as a husband or bridegroom, and God's people or the church as the wife or bride. The imagery here is unmistakeable. God wants a unity with people that is so profound and intimate that it can only be described as "oneness." And yet, this is not simply a union between God and a person, but between God and all persons who will accept the relationship. Thus, the objective of Christian spirituality is oneness with God, and that oneness is held in common by all who believe.

Jesus described it this way, as he prayed for all people who would follow him:

...that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. John 17:21 (NIV)

As we are enveloped in oneness with Jesus, we also become one with each other. Jesus is the groom, and his believers are, collectively, the bride. Though we, as believers, do not share a common household or sexual relationship, we are meant to share a common identity in our union to Jesus, and thus a relationship of spiritual intimacy with Jesus and, by extension, with each other.