Remember, Jubilee House hosts a community potluck every THIRD THURSDAY of the month. Come on by and join us sometime! All are welcome!

Last weekend Jubilee House went on retreat.  As part of that time away we took a hike on the Appalachian Trail in northern Virginia and soaked in autumn’s splendor.

Mid-September, 2 am

I awake to drips

To drops, sharp plips, soft plops

Rain waters the earth

Soft scents seep inside

Rich, ancient, wormy, woodsy

Rain perfumes the earth

Memories murmur

Safe, warm, dreamy, sleep returns

Rain comforts the earth

Barbara Bowles

September 18, 2012

Start The Season Smelling GOOD…& Chemical FREE!

Hi, everyone! I wanted to share a quick and easy DIY deodorant recipe with you all which has proven to be a great success for me over the past few months. I started testing out the idea of a homemade deodorant this past summer right before a 15 day road trip that I took across the country. I figured it was the best way to see if this stuff really worked. Alas, it kept me smelling fresh after days without bathing and hiking the Rocky Mountains. Now that I know that it works, I figured I would share it. Not only does it smell wonderful, but it is cheap to make and chemical free (the use of aluminum which is found in most antiperspirants deodorants has been linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease)! This DIY deodorant is not an antiperspirant. I’ve strayed away from antiperspirant because of the chemicals and the belief that we are supposed to sweat as it helps to regulate our body temperature. I think we need to learn how to embrace it rather than trying to do all we can to stop it. So if you’re interested, here is the recipe for you to try it out yourself:

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup coconut oil (solid state)
• 1/4 cup baking soda (aluminum-free)
• 1/4 cup corn starch or arrowroot powder
• essential oils (optional)

Instructions

Mix the baking soda and corn starch/arrowroot powder in a glass bowl.

Add the coconut oil (do not warm or melt it) and use a fork to thoroughly blend it into the dry ingredients.

Add 10-15 drops of your favorite essential oils and blend completely. (this step is optional, but great - my personal favorite combination is peppermint, tea tree and bergamot. I have also heard good things about clove with a little sweet orange and cinnamon. Female friends of mine have also enjoyed rose or lavender.)

Add more coconut oil or dry ingredients if needed.

Scoop the mixture into a small jar or container and store at room temperature. (Do not worry if in warm weather it becomes liquidy or if it hardens in colder temperatures. It still works just as well!)

To apply, use your fingers to scoop out a pea-size amount of the deodorant and massage it into your armpits daily or as needed. Allow a minute or two for the deodorant to set before getting dressed.

That’s about all I’ve got. I hope it treats you well!

Happy smelling,

Pat

Posted by Sara

Hello community loving fans. Jubilee House has been on a bit of a hiatus for the summer, so forgive the absence from our blog. You will be happy to know that things are back in full swing for the fall and we are hoping our blogging will follow suit. 

Pat has called dibs on a blog entry that will recount the summer, but I wanted to just take a moment to let you know that we welcomed a new member to the community in August, Julia! We’ll soon be getting her bio and pic up on the site. 

So, getting down to what I wanted to write about. Last weekend was the Baltimore Book Festival-one of my favorite festivals here in Baltimore. There are lots of book vendors along with your usual jewelry and overpriced street food stands. But the coolest part about it is all of the speakers and presentations. In particular, Red Emma’s (anarchist coffee shop and bookstore) hosts a really awesome radical book fair pavilion, where they host events on social justice issues. This year they had booked Amy Goodman, host of my favorite radio show and news source, Democracy Now! Lauren, Julia and I went to hear her speak. She was speaking on a book which she co-authored with another team member from Democracy Now, Denis Moynihan. The book is titled, The Silenced Majority: Stories of Uprisings, Occupations, Resistance and Hope. 

I bought the book, and have been wrestling with some questions that have come out of reading it, and I’m only halfway through. The short stories detail corruption and what I consider to be shaky morals under the past few administrations-yes, even the Obama administration. From Guantanomo to Iraq to Afghanistan, Obama has failed to be a president I can be proud of. An interesting realization as we approach the election, only a month away now. Democracy Now! showed the most recent presidential debate, but also invited the third party candidates to comment from a different location after Romney and Obama had their chance to speak. I watched this debate and began to think even more about my vote this November. 

I’ve been thinking about what it means to vote third party. Unfortunately it’s not just so easy to decide to vote third party. This isn’t a revelation to everyone, but something I’m just starting to think about. There’s a tough decision that comes when you look at the full spectrum of candidates: To vote your conscience, or to vote for the best practical implications. Voting my conscience would mean voting third party. After doing some research I really like the platform the Justice Party has put forward (and who wouldn’t want a president named Rocky?). However, the practical implication of that is that it’s one less vote for Obama, and while I don’t really support Obama, I can’t stomach the idea of Mitt Romney as commander-in-chief. I’ve been thinking of this as theoretical vs practical morality, though I’m not really sure that’s exactly the language I’m looking for. 

You have to be able to live with yourself and your decisions in the world. Voting for Obama means voting for someone I don’t believe will make the change I wish to see in this country. It makes me mad to think that I might have to do that. It’s almost cliche today to say that voting is deciding between the lesser of two evils, but that is how I’ve begun to think of this two-party system of ours. The fact that third-party candidates are barred from the debates says something about how we welcome different opinions in this country. 

I’m still reflecting on who I will vote for this November, while trying not to get cynical about how much my vote does or does not matter. In the meantime, I have a new appreciation for independent media, third party candidates, and Amy Goodman. 

Interested in living in an intentional community? Do you think that Jubilee House may be a good fit for what you are looking for? Read below to learn more about Jubilee House and feel free to contact us if you are interested in getting together!

Jubilee House is an intentional community dedicated to the “restoration of right relationships and the celebration of abundance” and we are looking for new housemates! As a community we try to live out the values of social justice, simplicity, environmental sustainability, community, spirituality, mindful consumerism, and hospitality. We are looking for two new community members excited about living out these values. What does that look like you ask? It looks like this:

-We share a common food budget, with a focus on buying local, organic, etc.

-We share rent and utilities

-We host monthly potlucks.

-Every Sunday evening, we eat dinner together and have a community meeting followed by an activity.

-We have two faith-sharing nights each month.

-Everyone shares in household chores and cooks one night per week.

-Each community member has their own room, but the three bathrooms and common spaces are shared.

Jubilee House is located in the Better Waverly neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland. Waverly is a socioeconomically and racially diverse neighborhood. Our home is within walking distance of multiple bus lines and has ample street parking.

Move-in date can be as early as August 1.

We strive to be an inclusive community so we welcome housemates of any race, class, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, age and faith.

If you want more specifics or have questions, we would love to hear from you. Please email us at jubileehousebaltimore@gmail.com 

Dear friends of Jubilee House

I hope this little blog post finds you all doing well and enjoying the warmer weather of late spring! I wanted to take a minute to post a quick and easy request to see if you all would be interested in signing a Change.org petition for my pen pal Jimmy Dennis. I have been writing to Jimmy for about a year now through the Death RowSupport Project.

Jimmy has been on death row for over 20 years and is firmly believed to be
innocent. Now is a very important time for Jimmy in that he is out of state
appeals and his second to last federal appeal is being heard on June 12th.
More information about Jimmy, his case, and the petition to be signed can
be found here. It only takes a second and can have a big impact. Regardless of what your stance on the death penalty may be, I hope that we can all agree that killing an innocent individual is an unjust act that must be prevented. I ask that you please keep Jimmy in your prayers and feel free to share the petition link to friends via email, facebook, and other social media networks. Thanks, everyone - I really appreciate the support! Also, feel free to let me know if you have any questions about Jimmy and his case. I am more than happy to share more information!

Much peace to you all,
Pat

-Posted by Michael

I found out this week that I have been accepted into the novitiate for the Society of Jesus, a Catholic religious order also known as the Jesuits.  It means that I will leave Baltimore and Jubilee House this summer for the novitiate in Syracuse.  While it is possible that I may some day return to Baltimore for any length of time, this announcement certainly signals a new phase in my life. 

However, the transition from Jubilee House to the Jesuit novitiate could not be more natural in my mind.  In many ways, the respect I have for my community members is aggrandized because they are laypeople living with negligible social recognition of their commitment to intentional living.  “Intentional living”: the enigma, quarry, and breath of Jubilee House.  The definition of the term is so socially fluid that it practically defies qualification.  In a backwards way, it brings to mind the notion of the Questing Beast of Arthurian literature.  The Questing Beast “has the head and neck of a snake, the body of a leopard, the haunches of a lion and the feet of a hart.^[1]”   It stands as a foil to the Holy Grail in that the Questing Beast symbolizes all that is wrong in the world.  Speaking on behalf of Jubilee House, our commitment to intentional living is motivated by a desire to hunt such a figurative Questing Beast.  My community members would doubtlessly object to the martial rhetoric of violence and destruction, but I believe that we are hunters all the same.  Or call us “seekers”.  But I say “hunters” of the Questing Beast particularly because to hunt the Questing Beast is not to hunt in search of glory, but an obligation to defy nothing less than all that is wrong in the world.  Moreover, it is a welcome obligation as well as a supremely defining one.  This decision to live intentionally defines every member of Jubilee House.  It defines Jubilee House itself.

The process of finding new members for next year continues to be a microcosm of our hunt for the Questing Beast.  It is in many ways a joyful burden for an elusive quality: intentionality.  We are searching for searchers; however, not all searchers search equally and to paraphrase T.E. Lawrence, not all dreamers dream equally.

“Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that all was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous [people], for they may act their dream with open eyes, and make it possible.” –The 7 Pillars of Wisdom

We are looking for people who hunt, search, and dream not groping in darkness.  Furthermore, it is not enough to listen and watch.  It is not enough to simply be “open”.  We are looking for people to hunt, search, and dream alongside us.  Despite what I would diagnose as our members’ deterministic philosophical sympathies in regards to socio-economic inequalities, our belief in our own free will is steadfast indeed.  We choose this quest.  We are looking for new members to choose it with us. 

For our spring retreat this year, Jubilee House took a hike through Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, followed by a day or so at Rosie’s family’s home where we reflected on what we are grateful for, what moves us and inspires us, and basically overate tasty snacks until we couldn’t move. 

I only have photos from the hike, but that was definitely a highlight for all of us. Nature is amazing!