During the summer of 06 I took a Philosophy class on the Southern planes of Minnesota. We lived on a farm, cooked our own food, lived with our classmates. I picked up book binding in some free time there, and have recently been able to restore two books; my own Christian Community Bible and Ruth's Grandmother's Bible which had lost it's cover, the spine and was in the process of shedding pages. All were able to be restored and it looks/feels like a usable book again.
In putting these books back together it struck me how I'd never really cared that much about a book before and how easy it was to just purchase another. But now what was manfactured - probably by massive sewing/glueing/cutting machines is a new creation. Instead of one more uniform product spat from the mouth of factory half way around the world, its someone's. This got me to thinking on clothes, furniture, and food - how we in the People of Praise are a people and how the pots and pans, the books and tables of different culture are wrapped up in who they are, what they're about, and how they live. Some day we might have our own architecture or form or communication. What does the People of Praise style/genre/worldview/lens look like in the normal, the everyday?
This last week we completed our move from 1444 Rembrandt into the Duplex across the street. We had been renting the Rembrandt house for these last 8 or so months and now our contract has come to an end. Looking from front, the guys have right-side, women have the left. Upstairs are private, 1st and basement floors are common. As you walk in to the guys side from our wide-shared porch you have to walk through the office, then our common study to get up the stairs to stuff rooms and sleeping floor-space. Right now the guys kitchen, which is behind the stairway is torn up, awaiting some more work.
The gals got the common living room, dinning room and soon-to-be incredible kitchen. The two sides' floor plans are laid out as mirror images.
And speaking of mirror:
Shalom.
photos by Mary Seale
3 comments:
Your discussion of taking a factory made book and rebinding it to recreate it in a way, is very similar to Marx's discussion of alienated labor.
Thanks Rus, I always look forward to your posts. Thanks for being on the front lines - and keep up the good work. I like the beard.
Great beard, Rus.
Here's a couple of thoughts triggered by your Bible bookbinding experience and questions about a distinctive People of Praise style/culture. When the SF folks moved to South Bend in 1977, we noticed right away that there was a PoP dress style that was different from the John the Baptist community dress style, at least for the women. Many of the SB women deliberately and frequently wore long dresses, and some of them wore head scarves, especially for Lord's Day. They looked distinctive, yes. Was that an advantage?
I'm also remembering how another community (not PoP) decided deliberately to play only classical music in their homes and to raise their children to listen only to classical music. Good idea or bad?
I guess my point is there's lots to discuss when thinking about what a distinct culture would look like. A big question is what are the implications for evangelism? Is it a help or hindrance to look different from the surrounding culture, and in what ways? Another question is what culture/style do we adopt as a hallmark of our community, say for food? Good meals with great conversation? I'd vote yes. Vegan meals? Don't know that we'd be able to reach a consensus on that one. Anyway, it's a fascinating topic with lots to think about, so thanks for raising it.
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