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Tobias Jones is a travel writer who lives in England, but also spends much time in Italy. He describes himself as one of “Thatcher’s children”, formed in a culture obsessed with making money and using it to travel incessantly, to buy sensation, and to accumulate possessions. Although he had been successful in these terms, he found himself increasingly dissatisfied with such goals, and wondered whether it was possible to find a more fulfilling way to live. This book is the record of his attempts to answer that question.
Throughout the centuries, people who find their ideals at odds with the society in which they live have tried to construct communities in which their vision can be embodied. Avoiding traditional religious communities, Jones went in search of groups that had their origin in the present-day world. In all but the first visit, he was accompanied by his wife and baby daughter.
As with many travel books, this proved to be a journey of self-discovery as much as a report of outward experience. He set out to be a sympathetic visitor, joining in the normal life of the community as far as possible, and trying to understand it on its own terms. His capacity to do this was severely strained during his first visit, to the most bizarre of the communities he has chosen.
This was Damanhur, a New Age community in northern Italy. It shows itself to be at home in the contemporary world by a strikingly slick engagement with technology and commerce, combined with strange occult beliefs and practices. Its members are insistent that their system is not a religion, because religions are dogmatic and restrictive. The community allows unfettered choice; all decisions are provisional and reversible.
Unlimited choice, Jones came to see, really meant that no choice was ever made; the absence of commitment meant that there was no sense of purpose, and life there was essentially meaningless. This community turned out to be uncomfortably like the world from which he was trying to free himself.
The author then moved to the place furthest away from it in ideology. This was Nomadelfia — also in Italy, but this time a conservative Roman Catholic organisation. It was formed at the end of the Second World War to cope with the large number of orphans needing care, and it still makes a substantial contribution to Italy’s care systems for orphans and young people in trouble with the law.
In contrast to Damanhur, the sense of commitment here was huge. Jones admired the community’s durability and the care it offered, but could not sympathise with its exclusive religious outlook. In the end, his family left with a sense of relief.
His other visits were to a Quaker community for the privileged elderly (who alone could afford its fees); to a Sicilian co-operative, farming land confiscated from the Mafia; and finally to the Pilsdon Community in England, where people recovering from prison, addiction, or mental illness can find a haven and healing.
In contrast to Damanhur, where Christian practice is not offered, and Nomadelfia, where it is compulsory, all three of these communities are sustained by Christian worship, but there is no pressure for members to take part in it. What was it about Christianity, Jones began to wonder, that seemed to make it the natural source of such vision and commitment?
Pilsdon was clearly the place where Jones felt most at home, and by which he felt most challenged. The experience changed him by offering him a viable alternative to the values of the culture in which he had been immersed.
Wherever human beings live together, there is inevitably friction. In all his visits, he came to know the difficulties of living in community, but he also caught the vision, and felt that it could be made a reality. Community living is never perfect, but that does not mean that it is not worth attempting.
Once he had begun to look for communities, he found them everywhere, mostly small and little-advertised. His great surprise was that most of them were founded on Christian principles — something he had hardly considered in his previous life. He was forced to contemplate adopting not only their way of life, but also their faith. At the time of writing, he had not come to any conclusion about either.
Christian faith will not be news to readers of this newspaper, but they may find that this book helps them to see it with fresh eyes. All of us are subject to the pressure of the culture around us to measure our success by our material wealth and our ability to keep up with fashions. This book reminds us of the ultimate futility of this quest, and stimulates us to rediscover and celebrate the value of life lived in relationship with others.
The Revd Sr Rosemary is a member of the Community of the Holy Name, based in a convent in Derby.
Utopian Dreams: In search of a good life by Tobias Jones is published by Faber & Faber at £7.99 (CT Bookshop £7.20); 978-0-571-22381-7) |
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