A curious exploration of The Canticle Farm

On Tuesday, the 2nd day of our Great Turning trip we visited the Canticle Farm in Oakland, CA. First we met with Annie a resident of the community. She gave us a tour and introduction to the community. We learned that the mission of The Canticle Farm is to break down the barriers in Oakland and create a neighborhood and community that was open and giving. Canticle Farm is definitely setting the example with its open doors and community connections. Later we met Pancho, an immigrant from Mexico who is undocumented by choice. Pancho lives in the Casa de Paz, another house in the community. We spent much of the afternoon in the attic of the Casa de Paz doing meditation and some exercises from the Great Turning workshops. The exercises included questioning where an inner and outer circle was established and we would take turns rotating and asking and answering the questions. We also did an activity in which we asked, “Who are you?” to our partner and listened to them speak for 5 minutes solid. During the answering time we would not comment but just listen fully to their answer. Then we would switch and answer the question ourselves.  After lunch we met sister Kimberly who spoke about the interconnectedness of our world. She spoke about the idea that all humans are connected and that we must not think of each of us as separate beings.   Brother Adelaja also spoke to us. He told his story about what brought him to The Canticle Farm and his previous struggles.

I really appreciated Canticle Farm’s message about community and oneness.  I think that they send a strong and important message by always having their door open. I never realized how important community really was. Having that space to be together can really bring people together and that coming together can have many great effects on the community and the world. When people in a community come together they have the power to make big changes.  Many of the activities we did made me think about interconnectedness and that, we as humans are connected on more ways than we may think. The power we have when we come together can be unstoppable.