Sunday, February 20, 2022

An Interview With Christine Sine on Living in Community

Christine Sine
You and your husband Tom are part of an intentional community in Seattle. Can you talk a bit about how you made the decision to live in community? And what is it like?

I have lived in intentional community all of my life - first when I moved to New Zealand to practice medicine and was offered a place to stay by a family who formed the hub of a small intentional community. Then I lived on the Mercy Ship for 12 years with an intentional community of 200-400 people. It was probably that experience that convinced me of the value of intentional community. So when Tom and I married and he owned a triplex in Seattle forming an intentional community seemed like an obvious decision.

 

What have you learned from living as part of a community?

Over the last couple of years of Covid lockdown I am not sure how we would have coped without the support of our small intentional community. There were two couples, a single person, and a family with one child, and the supportiveness we provided for each other was life-giving. Community has also provided healing and companionship for me throughout my life. It has been a wonderful experience

 

Recently the two of you did a Facebook presentation in which you discussed the benefits of establishing a rule of life. Would you talk a bit about the importance of a rule of life?

Tom and I established a rule of life for ourselves which became the basis for the Mustard Seed House community about 15 years ago. To be honest, I prefer to call it a rhythm of life because it has provided structure without confining us. In fact, it is quite liberating. Our rule provides guidelines for our spiritual and physical disciplines. Knowing there are certain activities that should be accomplished each day helps us shape our days and our weeks. One of the important aspects of our rule has been quarterly retreats where we look back and evaluate how well we have been doing and set new goals for the next three months. This also provides flexibility so that our practices do not become rigid.

 

Could you mention a few ways in which your faith and your understanding of God have deepened over the past few years? Especially in light of living in community?

I am increasingly convinced that we cannot really get to know God in depth without community. God comes to us in community - “The three in One, the One in Three - Father Son and Holy Spirit, and we need community to represent that. My faith has grown as I have interacted with others who have helped me find healing for broken places and helped me express love. I think that without community we are not only very lonely but also very selfish people. It doesn’t mean we all need to live in community, but the closer together we are, the more we are able to learn from others.

 

Christine & Tom Sine
You are part of the Godspace Light Community. Its mission is to have a place to discuss a whole-life faith that embraces spirituality especially contemplative, Celtic, & creative spiritual practices, environmental & economic sustainability, social & environmental justice, and gardening & creation care.” Could you talk about how that mission is being carried out? And why it’s so important to you?

At the heart of Godspace is a community of authors from around the world. I think that we are from eight different countries, and each person brings a different perspective that both helps broaden our understanding of God and God’s work in the world but also stretches our faith, and in the process grows it.  There is also a large number of people in the broader Godspace community that post regularly on the Godspace light community group on Facebook. Again, I think that the different points of view of each person, and the passion that different people have for different aspects of the Godspace vision helps us keep these aspects of faith in our front view mirror as it were. It has been a wonderful experience.

 

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

I believe that God’s desire is to see us made whole - not just as individuals but as a multicultural global community that cares for each other and for creation and none of that is possible without involvement in community. 

For more information on the Godspace community, please click here.

To check out Christine's book, The Gift of Wonder, please click here.

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