June house meeting

Our monthly house meetings are on the first Sundays of each month. Attendance is required but with 15 residents and varied work schedules, full attendance is unusual. For example,Daniele, an asylee, will be in upstate New York for the rest of the summer for an engineering internship. Whenever the Orioles or Ravens have a home game on a Sunday afternoon, Michael has to work late in his job as a parking lot attendant.

We usually begin with devotions which have been readings from the commentary on the Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages by Joan Chittester which offer practical guidance on living in community. Sometimes important parts of the meeting are translated for the benefit of the residents whose primary language is not English.

The agenda for these meetings includes mundane house keeping such as the cleaning schedule and work days. Last night, Sarah and Joseph gave a demonstration on the proper way to assemble a blender. Recently the guest of a resident installed the O-ring incorrectly and ended up making rubber-flavored humus complete with bits of rubber. Follow each meeting is an action item which vary from a fire drill to celebrating the month's birthdays with cake. Last night was a party with cake, strawberry and ice-cream to celebrate Chak's birthday. It was a nice way to end the weekend.