Ted Reeve

Guest Article by Heather Menzies
Being a commons requires more than just ‘build it and they’ll come.’ It requires clearing space in the community’s imagination to revive commons ways of being, which date back to pre-modern, pre-colonial, even pre-feudal times. The commons’ heritage predates the invention of private property … geared to sharing the land and sharing responsibility to sustain it.

The social gospel emerged in the early 20th century as a response to the abuses of capitalism and the need to understand how the church, and state, could be part of building God’s Kin(g)dom on earth. A hundred years later, we continue this struggle but with the added need to ensure the earth’s wellbeing as well. This article details some of the social gospel’s influence back then so that we might be inspired to carry it on now.

At a more grass-roots level, some of us have found the old idea of the commons to have relevance in the 21st century. The idea of being commoners and engaged in commoning gives fresh expression to a way-of-life that is down-to-earth, practical, cooperative, participatory, local and yet with global understanding.

This pre-modern concept of the commons – people working and sharing together – has new relevance in the 21st century. We have come to articulate this life choice as seeking a common GOOD.  Join us in exploring what this means.