Send letters to   Communities  magazine, PO Box 169, Masonville, CO 80541-0169. Your letter may be lightly edited or shortened. Thank you!

Letters

Praise, Criticism for "Love, Romance, and Sex in Community"

Dear Communities,
Your issue on love, romance, and sex. is brilliant. It brings everything together in one voice, while letting every contributor speak in his or her own voice. Thank you!
Susan Bell
London, England

Dear Communities,
I was thrilled to discover a magazine about community living--thank you! I was very excited to read "The Reunion of Souls," by Nann Emerson Chase in the summer issue, about a community based on spirituality and in which the focus of relationships was to assist each other spiritually. ... As I read I started to get an uncomfortable sense of a lack of humility in the author, but brushed it off in my eagerness to find kindred souls. I've frequently experienced connections with people from other shared lifetimes and was deeply identifying with the words of the author.
   Suddenly I read a sentence that stopped me short: "Here we mean someone of the opposite sex, as we believe homosexuality is not of the divine pattern." I've been "out" as a lesbian for 21 years, and though I'm quite familiar with this narrow kind of thinking, it always startles me coming from people who claim to be spiritually "evolved" ...
   It's easy to bring our old beliefs about right and wrong to our new spiritual paths without realizing it. I come up against this again and again as I pray for humility, and for Love to be the strongest force in my life. In this society we learned that self-love is wrong, and so we don't want any part of humility because it feels like self-deprecation. It took me many years to realize that this isn't so. It's an aspect of true love of self, accepting the humanness and fallibility of the ego along with the divinity of each person.
   In closing I'd appreciate it if you'd print the address of M.A.I.Z.E., the lesbian country magazine from Serafina, New Mexico.
Mel Long
Brattleboro, Vermont

The address of M.A.I.Z.E. is PO Box 130, Serafina, NM 87569.

Praise for the Communities Directory

Dear Communities,
Yippee! It gave me a lift to get our copy of the the Directory   and once again be inspired by what folks are up to. You all did a phenomenal job on this project, creating a beautiful resource, with integrity and a sense of humor. You should feel proud.
Ellen Hertzman
Berkeley, California

Dear Communities,
Got my Directory--it was well worth the wait. Wonderful document. Thanks for keeping me posted on its progress ... excellent customer relations.
John Perkins
Seattle, Washington

Dear Communities:
The Directory  is completely awesome--beyond words! You should all feel very proud. It'll take months to read it. It's all so fine. Do you have separate order forms I can leave with people? I want to get our local libraries and bookstores to carry it, as well as the magazine.
Patricia Greene
Heath, Massachusetts

You bet we do, and we'll be glad to send promotional materials to anyone willing to approach libraries and bookstores with our publications. Just write to Communities Directory, Rt. 1, Box 155-M, Rutledge, MO 63563.

Dear Communities:
The Directory  is very exciting, and well-arranged. Everyone who has seen my copy finds it fascinating.
Ann Morris
New York City

NASCO Regional Office

Dear Communities,
I wanted to add to my letter in issue #87 that NASCO (North American Students of Cooperation) does have a regional office that it has operated for several years in Santa Barbara. Its address is 6503 Madrid Rd., Suite  J, Isla Vista CA, 93117, 805-685-6964.
Deborah Altus
Lawrence, Kansas

Communities and "Earth Changes"?

Dear Communities,
I bought your Communities Directory   and subscribe to your magazine, but nowhere find any information on communities which are aware of and preparing for what is often called "Earth changes." Do you know of any such communities?
Shlomo Arnun
Glendale, Arizona

Under "Earth Changes" in the Index of the  Directory (p. 422) you'll find four communities listed: Four Winds Village Great Spirit Retreat (forming) Rt. 1, Box 2120, Tiger, GA 30576; Lothlorien, PO Box 1082, Bloomington, IN 47402-1082; Methow Center of Enlightenment, PO Box 976, Twisp, WA 98856; and The Shibboleth (forming), PO Box 2376, Chino Valley, AZ 86323. You can look these up alphabetically in the   Directory for more information and phone numbers. We suspect there are other communities which are interested in this subject, but which do not say so publicly. If you visited such communities as a guest, their members would most likely wait to get to know you first before bringing up the subject.