Off to serve the poor

Meet Ed.

Ed befriended me during the first day of the Richard Rohr conference in Albuquerque. We were both conference volunteers and we got chatting. He was Richard's right hand man during the 'New Jerusalem Community' years in Cincinnati where 150 young people lived together in an intentional community, and was down in New Mexico to reconnect with Richard and get some guidance for the future. Ed also managed to secure me a breakfast with Richard, and a hotel bed for a night.

Anyway, what is really inspiring is that Ed is leaving as a principal of a Catholic school and isn't sure where he is going to. Wherever it is, it is to get more directly involved in following Jesus and serving the poor. It was great to hear
his journey, and the see faith and guts he has to just step out into the unknown. I'm sure some of this comes from his younger days at New Jerusalem, but a recent impetus was Shane Claiborne's book The Irresistible Revolution. I look forward to where this journey takes Ed. If anyone knows of any good opportunities linked to poverty/Aids/education where help is needed, let me know.

Ed writes wonderful reflections on his journey here.
The local newspaper's article 'Principal retires to serve poor' is here.

What does this all mean for me? I asked Richard Rohr what he would say the best part of his life has been, and even though now he runs around the world as an international figure, he said that he often looks back at the New Jerusalem Community days as the golden days. "We were young, passionate and idealistic" he said. Hearing this, meeting Ed, and reading a copy of The Irresistible Revolution from Ed has inspired and challenged me to think about forming an intentional community some day. Wanna join?