8 • The New Wine Press • November 2016
Mixing It Up by Vicky Otto , Co-director of Precious Blood Companions
I have a confession of sorts to make ; I am not a great cook . But I do like to watch cooking shows on television . One of my favorites is a show called “ Chopped .” For each dish the contestants have to make they are given a basket of some rather strange ingredients that have nothing to do with the dish they are tasked to prepare . Imagine if you were given ingredients like rutabaga , chicken livers , graham crackers and cherry soda and told you had to create an entree with them . The chefs have to reimagine them ( with other ingredients ) into the dish they are assigned . After watching the show for a while , one gains a whole new appreciation for the creativity of those who love to cook .
As I have been reflecting upon Gather , Send and the vision of the Companions to invite people from different cultural traditions and from younger generations , I can ’ t help but reflect that , like the ingredients in “ Chopped ,” Companions may be reimagined into something they have never anticipated through the vision they share .
There is one sentence of Gather , Send that Companions and members have been drawn to over the last several months : “ We bring the cup of spirituality to ever-widening circles , to people of all generations , races and cultures . We seek out those who are yearning for this message , and invite them , the way that we were invited .” While one can be drawn to the invitation action of this statement , one would hope there is a willingness also to allow the group to change once the new Companions are included . For our Companion Movement to truly live into Gather , Send we must not only embrace the new Companions but also the change that will occur .
Fr . Anthony Gittins , C . S . Sp . discussed this topic in his book Living Mission Interculturally . Fr . Gittens was writing to religious communities who were struggling with welcoming new priests into their communities , but many of his ideas are applicable to our Companion Movement . He discussed the challenges of intercultural mission , writing , “ A community that is polarized into ‘ us ’ and ‘ them ’ will never achieve intercultural living ; only in a community striving to become ‘ we ’ can it possibly succeed .” He encouraged the community as well : “ Intercultural living demands graciousness , diplomacy , compromise , mutual respect , serious dialogue , and the development of a common and sustaining vision . A vision is something that inspires the common effort of a lifetime and also provides appropriate means to achieve a desired end .”
He also shared three guidelines that the Companion Movement should also embrace as we welcome Companions of different cultural traditions . The first guideline he suggested was “ We are called to build a home together .” The image that he encourages communities to strive for is the same feeling that one has regarding a family home . He writes that the home is “ an evolving , organic entity and its shape is forever changing .” Think of your own family home . Harmony