Fokke Wouda

CHAPTER 6: TEMPORARY SOLUTION FOR A PERMANENT PROBLEM 187 Nevertheless, Brother TA indicates that the courage of the community to act and to experiment, as well as to admit mistakes, has been one of the attractive features of the community: But that from the start it has been something, indeed, that, that touched me in this community, that it really is a community that tries to do something, which tries to live out something, very much aware which, which it is very fragile and that we make mistakes, no doubt, but that, nonetheless, yes, tries to just follow Christ in an authentic way, um……… yes, and that’s what I see here in the Eucharist as well, you know, well, that……we could have said: ‘we won’t do anything in that regard, it is too sensitive, too difficult, let’s avoid it’… um… that we won’t do anything, indeed, but, well, only say, well, we won’t do anything, because they act in that way and that’s not good, they act like that and that’s not good, so, yes, we should, we better do nothing, you know, or else we will be criticized, too……but which…makes the more courageous choice to try something… to live together in a certain way, together… celebrating Christ… praying together, but which is very much aware that that’s not evident to all….435 The community is willing to take risks in order to be able to advance in the search for unity. This does not mean that they consider their own path perfect or flawless. On the contrary, the next section shows that they doubt their own practice and struggle with the many questions that accompany them. Still, they prefer it over the alternative of avoiding the Eucharist or to be separated in celebrating it. The interviewees from Bose express similar thoughts and convictions. BF says: “It’s a specifical, local, and personal, I mean uh, communitarian situation. We suffered a lot in finding a way out, uh, this is not a full way out, it’s just a way to go through without too much suffering. Never, nothing more.”436 Similarly, Brother BE says: I think most of us are aware of what is, what is, what are the questions and so on, but to really discuss them, as far as we have our own local solutions and how to solve them, not to solve, but anyway, to go across the difficulties, and living them….437 The monastics primarily focus on their practice as a temporary solution to their own, specific problems. They stress its provisionality: it is always a 435 TA-1,24c. 436 BF-1,10e. 437 BE-2,58.

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTk4NDMw