Education, Hospitality, People, Rectory Stories, Three Rivers

Food and community: Chelsea’s reflection

We asked each of our 2016 summer interns to respond to their time in Three Rivers. Below is Chelsea Smith’s reflection:


My summer in Three Rivers gave me a glimpse into community life and left me eager to experience more. During my time with *cino, I stepped into a community that overflowed with creativity, joy, work, and rest. My role in the community manifested itself in many ways, mostly revolving around time and food. I grew food, cooked food, and shared food. I co-planned community events and enjoyed time with community members.

In college, I studied community development, so I came into this internship with some expectations of what I would learn and do. In many ways, working with *cino exceeded and reconstructed those expectations. Prior to this past summer, I would have said that I desired a lifestyle without rhythm and regularity. I liked switching things up and not falling into the same weekly routine. But I have grown to miss Monday night gatherings at the Riv, Tuesday “Garden of Your Mind” meetings, Wednesday communal work and pizza nights, etc. I realized during my *cino internship that rhythm is a sacred part of community. Gathering together regularly and sharing time (and food!) together is essential for building relationships and connections, especially when spending time in public spaces. These predictable gathering times were refreshing and restful times of my week.

When I studied community development in school, I dreamed of an exciting life as a “community developer” (or however that work would manifest). I thought the day-to-day life would be filled with inspiring actions, important decisions, and influential conversations. I learned this summer that those things do happen, but much more sporadically than imagined. The day-to-day role is filled with smaller moments of connection, commitment, and creativity. The details matter much more than I realized. Somewhere between planning kids’ crafts, cleaning the soon-to-be wood shop, and sewing countless feet of bunting, I discovered that there’s a sacredness in the details. After all, it’s the details that make the larger picture come together.

The connections I made during the ten weeks in Three Rivers were richer than connections I halfheartedly formed over double that amount of time. I felt more present working with *cino, where my priority was to invest in the community. This reflection was somewhat difficult to write, because I don’t feel like my time in Three Rivers is over. There is more to learn working with *cino, and I am still processing the impact of this summer internship. I am filled with gratitude for my experience in Three Rivers and still feel connected to the rich community there. I have a feeling this won’t be the end.

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*cino Work, Building, Leadership, Organization, People

Annual *cino retreat yields 2017 priorities

On October 7, those of us who currently comprise the core *cino community gathered at a retreat house near Three Rivers to spend time growing in friendship, sharing good food, and reflecting on the year past and the year to come. Like our past retreats, we enjoyed times of intense, meaningful conversation interspersed with rest and play.

This year, our time together helped us get organized around some specific priorities for 2017 and some new ways of working together to achieve our tasks and goals within those priorities. The four things that rose to the surface that we want to work on in 2017 are:

  1. Grow *cino’s food efforts.
  2. Grow our core community in both quantity and quality.
  3. Cultivate relationships—with our neighbors, city, downtown, donors, partner organizations…
  4. Make tangible facility improvements.

We’ve identified a number of measurable goals within these overlapping categories, including existing programs and new efforts, as well as discerning some things we’ll leave behind for now in order to make space to grow in other areas and be open to the gifts and interests of new core community members. We’ll continue to organize our work through weekly meetings on Mondays, and also to grow in relationship with one another and our neighbors through things like Monday nights at the Riviera Theatre Bar and Friday night potlucks. We’re also looking to support each other more as a community through collaboratively developing and sharing our own personal care plans for the coming year.

Forming the foundation for our work conversations during the retreat was a time of reflection on several readings that touch on the theme of work: how we do what we are called to do with deep joy and gratitude. The readings included a couple of essays from our online publications (one by Brother Abraham and one by Gary Guthrie), a poem by Marge Piercey, and a quote from Thomas Merton that I find to be particularly cautionary for our busy, committed group:

There is a pervasive form of modern violence to which the idealist…most easily succumbs: activism and over-work. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of the activist neutralizes his (or her) work… It destroys the fruitfulness of his (or her)…work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.

We also considered a quote from Kahlil Gibran that echoes Merton’s warning:

Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is
better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the
temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter
bread that feeds but half man’s hunger.
And if you drudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge
distills a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing,
you muffle man’s ears to the voices of the day and the voices of
the night.

With this balance in mind, we reviewed a first draft of a design for the Huss Project property, sharing questions and feedback. We know it will take a lot of work to move forward with this design, but we’re excited about the prospect of seeing some major progress happening in the coming year. To learn more about the design, visit a more detailed post with an image of the first draft over on the Huss Project web site.

If this all sounds like something you’d like to get involved in in some way, please let us know! We are very open to the participation of more volunteers and new core community members as we head into a new year full of good work alongside our neighbors in Three Rivers.

 

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*cino Work, Leadership, People

*cino resident community prepares for 2016 retreat

Each fall for the past several years, the core *cino group has taken time out of our fall schedule to go away together to reflect on the year past, and imagine and plan for the year ahead. We began with a single night, but in our hunger for more time, we dedicated a whole weekend last year, and will do the same again this year from October 7-9. We’re fortunate to have an abundance of local retreat centers, practically in our back yard, and we’ve enjoyed spending time at St. Gregory’s Abbey, GilChrist Retreat Center, and The Hermitage Community for our annual retreats and other activities throughout the year. These places keep us anchored in so many ways.

This year, there will just be four of us participating in the full retreat, perhaps with a couple of others who are close to our work popping in for parts of the time. The small number was something we anticipated at last fall’s retreat, and this year will be an opportunity to discuss how we feel about where things are. We long to have more partners in this work on the ground in Three Rivers, but in the meantime, the work goes on, and we often feel spread thin. In thinking about this state of things, I’ve gathered a number of quotes, poems, and essays around themes of commitment, labor, busyness, and finding joy in our work. This material will likely form the foundation of our Saturday morning reflection time, with our remaining working hours dedicated to sharing where we are personally and how we feel about the past year’s activities, as well as our vision for the coming year, with practical action steps we can take coming out of the retreat. And we’ll be sure to take plenty of time to rest, walk, play, and, of course, eat good food!

We would all appreciate your good thoughts and prayers for our time together—for clarity, wisdom, vulnerability, listening, and joy!

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*cino Work, Organization, People, Three Rivers

Come and see: Lauren Anderson’s reflection

We asked each of our 2016 summer interns to respond to their time in Three Rivers. Below is Lauren Anderson’s reflection:


It is so interesting to look back and think that the first time I learned that *culture is not optional even existed was nearly one year ago. I was introduced to this community when we at the Service-Learning Center at Calvin College began our annual training with an overnight retreat to Three Rivers in August of 2015. After that initial introduction, I was enthralled. It was the first time I witnessed young adults choosing to live radical, counter-cultural, creative lives that were inching towards something so much greater than their personal or family benefit. The people involved with *cino are interested in a much bigger picture of shalom, which includes the wellbeing of the Three Rivers community.

When the call for spring break trip leaders went out and there just happened to be a trip to Three Rivers, you can imagine my excitement for another opportunity to be near such a life-giving community. Then, while on spring break, I learned about the summer internship with *cino. The more I prayed and let the idea bounce around in my head, the better I felt that this was the place for me this summer.

Looking back, I have not been disappointed. Especially after a difficult year of school, I am very grateful that I was enveloped into such a tight-knit community of visionary, educated, earth-loving, and people-loving human beings this summer. One part I appreciated was the unique rhythm of work and rest here; I even found some of the work to be restful in and of itself. Weeding, painting, and harvesting were all tasks that kept my hands busy, but gave my mind the freedom to pray, ask questions, and dream — something often forgotten in the busyness of the school year.

The hardest part was conveying to others unfamiliar with *cino both an accurate and a concise snapshot of my summer here. Lumping the summer into the phrase “community development” is true but also is vastly incomplete. Yes, I have had the opportunity to live and share daily dinners with seven other beautiful humans. Not only that, but I have also participated in “Garden of Your Mind” meetings to discuss and live into *cino’s core values; I have helped coordinate Community Fun Nights and Summer Lunch volunteers. And as Huss Future Fest rapidly approached, I was able to help beautify the photo booth, make a display of all the photo booth props, help with signage, and help with whatever else needed to be done.

The best explanation I have is one I learned from Jesus, which has also been implemented by other good teachers: come and see. Come for a potluck; come to a work day; come to the Huss Project; come to Future Fest; come to Three Rivers. Come and see for yourself the ways the upside-down kingdom is evident here in this beloved community. Come.

 

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*cino Work, Organization, People, Three Rivers

A full plate: Aubrey’s reflection

We asked each of our 2016 summer interns to respond to their time in Three Rivers. Below is Aubrey Laubenthal’s reflection:


When I arrived, it was instinctual for me to go into a state of stress and anxiety about nearly everything to do in the summer ahead. However, I now look back and find that there was an incredible balance of sweat AND play, elbow grease AND rest. In the midst of busyness and mess, I found myself stable and determined. The ever-so-brief amount of time that I spent in Three Rivers was unexpectedly full and uniquely good. I found myself surrounded by people who pour themselves into each other, their work, and this community. I experienced the unified mission of neighbors who collaborate. I couldn’t have made it through the summer so peacefully and joyfully had it not been for the beautiful community here, especially my fellow *cino friends. I learned so much about committing to a place and pursuing good things by doing good things. That includes eating good things… a LOT of good things.

Living with the other interns, I noticed and appreciated each person coming with amazing passions and quirks. Each person taught me something valuable, which I believe will increase in value as time goes on. I saw how to be shameless in the unconventional, vulnerable in receiving, cheerful in the mundane, humble in boldness, adventurous in the rain, and genuine in honesty. Today I am thankful for it all, and someday I will be more thankful than I could today imagine.

There is something simple here, and there is something deep here. At *cino, there is no static or lukewarm. There is heart, mind, soul and strength, all woven together in a really cool tapestry which is continuously being sewn. So as brief as it was, I leave knowing that the impact we shared was anything but brief. My heartfelt thanks, everyone!

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*cino Work, Education, Organization, People, Three Rivers

A sense of place: Lauren Otto’s reflection

We asked each of our 2016 summer interns to respond to their time in Three Rivers. Below is Lauren Otto’s reflection:


How can I possibly explain how my internship changed my sense of what “place” means to me? Place used to be simply a collection of geographic data. My home town of Newberg, Oregon is not so different from Three Rivers, Michigan if you describe it geographically. Both towns are distinct for being centered around waterways and railroads; both have a manufacturing history and are surrounded by farmland; both have historic theaters, local watering holes, and a handful of residents usually described as “characters” (although that is often not a fair description).

Three Rivers had so many geographical similarities to Newberg; the only difference was that it was a new place. Despite this sameness, uprooting myself and moving to a new place made me reevaluate. And yet, in Three Rivers I felt a connection to its landscape, places, and characters. This was novel, since I regarded my own town with affectionate apathy. Three Rivers was not my town, but it was a town that embraced me with such kindness that I wanted to move there immediately and settle there forever.

This left me wondering what on earth my town was doing wrong to make me feel so ambivalent towards it. But as summer went on and I kept spending my days working in Three Rivers, growing food, playing with kids, and interacting with the local communities, I realized that the problem was not my town: it was me. My town has good communities, it has gardens, it has characters, but none that I invested in. My internship has prepared me to connect with a community and build relationships. At home, I had to work at it, and I had failed to invest in my own community and as a result had not reaped the benefits of a connection. I resolved to go home at the end of the summer and approach my town with new eyes. I would not look at my place with apathy, but would resolve to work in it and for it, for its good and my own.

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*cino Work, Organization, People, Three Rivers, Uncategorized

The sum of its parts: Tess’ reflection

We asked each of our 2016 summer interns to write a reflection on their time in Three Rivers. Below is Tess De Jong’s reflection:


Over the course of interning for *culture is not optional in Three Rivers, Michigan, this summer, I met plenty of new people. As is natural, they would usually ask me where I’m from. “Kalamazoo,” I would say. “Oh, so not too far at all!” they would respond. Outwardly, it was easier just to agree. But what I wanted to say was, “Actually, this is an entirely different place.”

When I am here, present, in Three Rivers, it does not seem like I can just hop in my car and be in my bedroom at home in thirty minutes. Going back and forth between the two places takes more than a block of down time between activities and an eighth of a tank of gas: It requires a total mental shift in the way I view living, and it’s difficult to keep switching.

Here in Three Rivers, I am living more intentionally than I ever have before. We think about our food sources, consumer ethics, community vision, the environment, local businesses, and take time and space for rest and contemplation. We try to make our lives visibly different because of what we believe about these things. An example would be cooking only with vegetables that are in season at the time, or manually pulling weeds instead of spraying them all. At first, it was hard to get used to. It felt exhausting and a little limiting. But it turned out to be so freeing and empowering. By living daily with more hospitality, simplicity, and imagination, I felt like I had more agency and a wider platform on which to live out my faith.

I have never felt more tied to a place after a time as short as 10 weeks. This is not in a “tied down” sense, but in a way that makes it sad to leave, and easy to come back to, even if a few years have passed. I guess that is what happens when you see the mayor at the bar, play board games with the Downtown Development Authority director, meet new people for the first time at a children’s-book-themed dinner party, get invited to pesto-making night with your bosses, have your house “mom” be the pastor of a nearby church, help plan the highest-fund-raising Huss Future Festival yet, eat meals with incredible flavors you have never even tasted before, and share a house with 6 other amazing interns who share your experiences and bring them all to life.

This summer I painted dozens of signs, sorted a hallway of heavy and dusty rummage, played my fair share of kickball with kids, became really good at washing dishes, and weeded for infinitely more hours than I had in my entire life combined. And somehow, the sum is so, so much more than its parts. What a truly indescribable and pivotal summer I had.

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Organization, People, Rectory Stories

Welcome to our 2016 summer interns!

After a full weekend of orientation, an al fresco potluck, and an outdoor workday, we’re excited to welcome six new summer interns to Three Rivers! Each of them comes from different places around Michigan and the country and brings enthusiasm, a fresh perspective, and an array of skills to our group.

Our Community Engagement team is headed up by Lauren Anderson and Chelsea Smith. Lauren has visited Three Rivers a handful of times through Calvin College (including the most recent spring break trip), and is eager to stay longer this time. Our word-of-mouth network is growing, as evidenced by Chelsea, who got in touch through a good friend of *culture is not optional. They will be coordinating events such as Community Fun Night, summer lunches at the Huss Project, Friday night potlucks, and Storytelling Nights.

Tess De Jong and Aubrey Laubenthal will work together on communications and event promotion through social media and website posts, as well as business support for World Fare, a fair trade store and sister organization to *cino. Tess will soon be the sister-in-law of Joel, a former intern. Aubrey was introduced to *cino during a class that *cino’s Director, Rob Vander Giessen-Reitsma, taught at Calvin College and is looking forward to learning more.

Much of our work has at least something to do with food (which is the way we like it), and Jordan Moore and Lauren Otto are working together as our agriculture interns. They’ll be the point people for Project Farm (at the Huss Project as well as a new location!), Community Gardening Nights, and the Huss Project table at the Three Rivers Farmers Market. Lauren, who got connected through her father, traveled the farthest to be here—all the way from Oregon! Jordan, a recent graduate of Spring Arbor University, heard about happenings in Three Rivers from a former intern.

And finally, we’re happy to welcome back a married couple who first met at their internship two summers ago! Alexandra (who invited Jordan to check out *cino) and Nate Harper-Brees recently exchanged vows, and they will be spending five weeks in Three Rivers before heading out to Kazakhstan, where Nate will teach at an international school. We’re glad for their leadership at the Rectory, where they’ll share the intentional community household with the six interns.

With these helping hands on deck, we’re confident that there are many good things in store for this summer, and we hope that you’ll stay tuned!

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Education, Publishing, Three Rivers

2016 Local Food & Recycling Guide now available!

*culture is not optional is once again partnering with the St. Joseph County Conservation District to produce and distribute the River Country Local Food & Recycling Guide for 2016. A group of local citizens interested in local food issues started the guide in 2009 and passed it off to *cino and the Conservation District in 2014. The guide provides listings of the numerous farms and markets in southwest Michigan which offer fresh produce, meats, baked goods, maple syrup, honey, and other items. One of *cino’s passions is eating and sharing the food grown by our neighbors, and we love connecting people with local food sources! Also included is a guide to locations at which you can recycle a variety of items.

You’ll find free copies of the guide in businesses and institutions around Three Rivers, Centerville, Sturgis, Vicksburg, Mendon, White Pigeon, and Constantine. You can also find listings and leave reviews for your favorite farms at our Food Guide web site!

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Building, Education, Hospitality, People, Three Rivers

Calvin College students explore Three Rivers on Spring Break

Every year, we look forward to a visit from Calvin College students who are ready to serve and learn about Three Rivers over their spring break. We had to cancel our plans last year on account of low registration, but this year we are grateful for a very enjoyable and productive week with five eager and passionate students!

Calvin College’s Service-Learning Center coordinates groups for a week of service and learning with organizations around the country. Along with the *culture is not optional staff, the five students followed a rhythm of life together: beginning each day with morning prayer, working for several hours at the Huss Project in the morning, eating lunch at the Rectory, visiting local community members around Three Rivers in the afternoon, and cooking and lingering at the dinner table in the evening over conversations both weighty and light-hearted. The group stayed at The Hermitage and St. Gregory’s Abbey, which offered an environment of rest and contemplation during a busy week.

At the Huss Project, the main focus of the work was preparing the gym to be converted into space for a woodshop. Willing hands took down the drop ceiling to make way for new lighting, installed pallet racking for storage, and hauled away metal for recycling. Removing the ceiling revealed that we might be able to collect rainwater from the gym roof for the garden! The Huss Project garden is nearly ready for planting, thanks to the students who pulled out last year’s plants and harvested over-wintered carrots. Some much-needed organizing also took place in the office and supplies areas of the building.

In the afternoons, we visited neighbors and community members to listen to their stories and to learn how they make Three Rivers a unique place. We visited with farmers (and harvested more carrots!), artists, business owners, civic and church leaders, and monks and spiritual leaders. We had excellent conversations about the challenges and the life-giving aspects of living intentionally in a place.

It was wonderful to spend a rich, full week with curious, engaged, hardworking students who are asking good questions about the world we live in. At the end of the week, instead of “Goodbye,” we said, “See you soon!”

Find pictures of the week on our Flickr album.

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