The Spirit is infinitely more sensitive and delicate than the inflexible designs of the intellect or the cold, hard framework of governmental or societal structures. In Jesus, who lived a life of love without violence, love without rights, and love without the desire to possess, the Spirit lives on powerfully as the Risen One, as the inner voice and the inner eye that leads to community. The light of the early church illuminated the path of humankind in only one short flash. Yet its spirit and witness stayed alive even after its members had been scattered and many of them murdered. Again and again through history, similar forms arose as gifts of God, expressions of the same living Spirit.
Communities pass away.
But the church that creates them remains. Efforts to organize community artificially can only result in ugly, lifeless caricatures. The Spirit drives us to all people and brings us joy in living and working for one another, for it is the spirit of creativity and love. In truth, the Spirit alone is equal to itself. When this core burns and blazes to the point of sacrifice, it radiates far and wide.