MINI-STORIES FOR THE YOUNG AND NOT SO YOUNG On a bright June day, Julian stood in the middle of the compound of White Dove House, a post of the Neo-Christian Humanist Lay Mission. He had been its leader and Pastor from the beginning. In one month the House membership would celebrate 25 years of the existence of the House and its work on behalf of those threatened by early death or unendurable pain. For this occasion he was to present an abbreviated chronicle of the House's development over all those years . He was in the process of reviewing White Dove history as a preamble to this welcome endeavor. He thought of the beginnings of the House when he, a Protestant Minister turned Neo-Christian Humanist had committed himself to the Love that has no bounds, recruiting from his former flock and ecumenical associates, including secular humanists, the initial grouping. He was in his late twenties then and now he marveled how he and his Housemates had managed, starting from nothing materially, and under pressure from those who would have men seek goodness on pain of Hell, to initiate a pioneering community. This community was vital in combating famine, war, and dependents' abuse out of the sheer industry of its members. Those were the beginning tasks, on which they strived and labored to the utmost for eight long years. But even then they rejoiced in each other and their work, and the skies above them were clear and free of brooding and despair. Then came a milestone--the convergence into the Neo-Christian Humanist Lay Mission with all Houses which had sprung up after the press and media coverage of White Dove and other pioneering Houses associated with it had become widespread. The whole Lay Mission proceeded to campaign for making Famine Relief an item of International Law according to the means of all the solvent members of the World Order. The campaign was a monumental effort. It lasted seven years, during which the Lay Mission's membership grew to .38 million, most of it in advanced countries. By then it was clear that Neo-Christian Humanism was an existential success. Its members hardly ever left or lost faith and their inspired compassion overcame the most astonishing difficulties. They rarely changed marriage partners, and were devoted parents and foster-parents. The years went by and the Lay Mission grew and thrived. It made headway in epidemiology and other branches of medicine, such as treatment of mental illness. There were other developments which greatly pleased Julian. The Neo-Christian Humanist Bible was being prepared for publication by illustrious biblical scholars, historians, psychologists and cultural anthropologists. It was the exegesis and distillation of the original biblical texts according to the Two Commandments of Love, the most general tenet of Judaism and Christianity and their maximally evolved Sacred Law. The specific laws which came from this distillation were in all the most loving and the most rational readings of the Will of God as it applied to the condition of mankind at the time. The Annals of the Neo-Christian Humanist Lay Mission had been kept from the beginning. There were also changes in secular law originated by Neo-Christian Humanists or supported by them. The work of the Lay Mission was in a new phase of emphasis on Peace. Julian was particularly happy about the Mission's achievements in spreading pacifism. It gave him great joy that militias were forming in many nations to supplant armies and that treaties were being forged by all powers to eliminate atomic, biological and chemical warfare. He also rejoiced that the death penalty was a thing of the past. Future Lay Mission tasks included global hunger prevention and potable water provision, together with advances in management of the environment. The membership of the Mission was at .79 million. From its inception the Lay Mission and with it White Dove belonged to the simultaneously formed Ecumenical Humanist Movement, and had contacts with all its various branches, such as the Homo Sapiens Institute and the E-N or Evolutionist Net. It was, therefore, fully integrated into the Ecumenical Humanist Community. Julian was well aware of the tremendous empowerment it drew from these contacts and of the contribution to the Community it made itself. He looked about him at the small, trim, stuccoed units of the compound with hanging flowers decorating the trellises. In the back was the children's playground and playhouse. The compound housed, besides him, 84 people he loved and held in deepest esteem, who represented various races, ethnicities, talents and walks of life. Being with them, talking with them, laughing and weeping with them was continuous fulfillment and continuous growth. He was eager to start writing his Chronicle. |