The Brotherhood of Those Who Planted Trees

Quite some time ago, I was privileged to be part of an amazing experiment in a different way of life.  I was a part of an intentional Christian community for the sum total of 5 years.  I was further subdivided into a small group of, mostly, men, who were basically the work crew that support the entire experiment.  I say experiment because that is one way to look at it.

The Highway Missionary Society (HMS) (later known as the Servant Community) was an attempt, sometimes successful,  sometimes not, to live more like what is described in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles in the Holy Bible.  The Church, at least for the first few centuries, lived a very shared lifestyle, taking in those in need, sharing with one another their material resources, and worshiping and eating together in homes in the Middle East  and generally around the Mediterranean basin, etc.  So how was HMS LIKE that?  It was a ministry that existed to serve, existed to give, existed to bow to King Jesus, and we shared our money as if it belonged to all of us, sort of.  Actually, that was the verbiage used, but in reality the only money I EVER held in my hands the entire time was the grand sum of $4 US.  That aside, I was blessed to be there, mostly (we won't go into that right now).

I have recently witnessed a barrage of remembrances coming at me via Facebook from several of my brethren from HMS, good memories, and that has brought a healing balm to my soul.  I think that God allowed this rehash of goodness at this time for the purpose of healing wounds.  Not everything was roses (with a nod to Mr. Rosas) during my tenure at HMS/Servant Community.  You've heard the old saying, "If you work your fingers to the bone, what do you get?  Bony fingers."  Well, I think another possible answer would be bloody fingers.  And then there's, "All work and no play..."

So, in the interest of further healing, I bring you a short-list of the good stuff of late:

Skipping grouse, Micheals story, Kings Table or the weekly Sunday pancakes. Treeplanters are serious consumers of large quantites of food.