The Greek word, philokalia, translates as "love of the beautiful." The idea of Philokalia Place comes from the desire to use our home as a place to foster love for the beautiful. We believe that our Creator is beautiful and that He created many, many beautiful things. What do we consider beautiful, you ask? Thank you for asking. Well we think many things are beautiful. We consider people to be beautiful even in all of their eccentric, selfish, and funny ways. Sharing conversation with friends or strangers over delicious food is beautiful. Learning, understanding, and growing is beautiful. Appreciating others who might be different from us and learning to love them is beautiful. Drinking a hot cup of coffee is liquidly beautiful. Taking care of our home, the earth, and sharing her fruit is beautiful. Doing small acts of love for others is beautiful. Music and art are beautiful. Celebrating and mourning together is beautiful. And the list of other beautiful things goes on.
These are a few of the marks of beauty that we hope those involved with Philokalia Place can passionately pursue:
- Loving St. Louis city.
- Sharing our gifts with fellow community members and the needy among us
- Offering hospitality to our friends, family, and strangers
- Working toward just reconciliation in the divisions of the church, our communities, and ourselves
- Submitting to Christ’s body, the Church
- Mentoring and learning from others the intricacies of life
- Nurturing common life among community members
- Hoping, celebrating, and mourning with each other
- Sharing a common rule of life
- Caring for God's earth and supporting our local economies
- Peacemaking in the midst of conflict
- Pursuing a contemplative life.
What will all of this look like? The answer: who really knows; it will probably change from time to time. What we envision is to share a place where we can celebrate, learn, and love beautiful things. We hope to gather in our home, share some yummy food, and then maybe listen to a speaker, watch a documentary, or play some games. We hope to ask hard questions about God, life, ourselves, and everything in between. We hope to drink some freshly roasted coffee, listen to some live music (preferably acoustic!), and share conversation. We hope to embrace some of our fears by learning about things our parents told us to stay away from. In a nutshell: we hope to celebrate the beautiful things of life and love them.