About the Author, Blair C. Adams:

In January and February of 1971, Blair had a number of life-changing encounters with God. These convinced him that Jesus was God incarnate, that there was only one God and that this God held out the promise of a powerful spiritual experience to all believers.

Blair also saw the possibility of a life lived in sustained relationship with God through Christ and in His Body, the church.

He did not believe nationalistic patriotism should become his religion, taking the place of God and His kingdom. He instead came to see the church as synonymous with life in an alternative to the world’s smoldering cultures, an alternative called the “kingdom of God.”

This was, in Jesus’ words, a “kingdom not of this world.” Nonetheless, Blair saw in Scripture that this kingdom was to be “advancing” and that believers should pray that it would “come on earth as it is in heaven.”

Blair did not, however, see this as any sort of political kingdom based on coercing others.

These were people, however, held together only by their own commitment to this supernatural love and vision. They were “the people of God” in the sense that they had chosen to answer God’s call to a distinct identity and purpose as God’s people.

Blair continued to believe that the kingdom of God was to unfold “on earth as it is in heaven” (to quote from Jesus’ model prayer), finding its embodiment in the sacralized life of Christian community. Such a community, like any living thing, would be whole.

Thus Blair saw that it had to become an entire environment and culture, a vital way of seeing and being that affected all thinking, feelings, attitudes, labors, conduct and relationships of those who chose to freely participate in such an unfolding community.

It would even affect people’s relationship to land and work. No part of life would have to be lived outside of God and His purpose. In short, it would include all that is essential to life.

Blair’s abiding motive was always to participate in the creation of what has been called communities of “exemplary Christian existence.”‎

He saw these communities as the crucial means to “teach us how to live authentically” in the presence of God and other people.

And now - see practical application right here in this video:

Amish and the Plain People:

These people trace their heritage back hundreds of years, and yet, despite all the time that has passed and the many changes that have taken place in society, they still live and work much as their forefathers did. Their families and their farms are their top priorities, second only to God.

The Amish are very devout in their faith. They believe in the literal interpretation and application of Scripture as the Word of God. They take seriously the Biblical commands to separate themselves from the things of the world. They believe worldliness can keep them from being close to God, and can introduce influences that could be destructive to their communities and to their way of life.

1. OAEC - OAEC is a non-profit education center, organic demonstration farm and intentional community located in western Sonoma County, 65 miles north of San Francisco, on 80 acres that encompass wildlands of meadows and mixed oak, fir and redwood forests. 

Sowing Circle LLC - While Sowing Circle and OAEC remain two distinct legal and financial entities, they share a common vision. Sowing Circle has contributed an enormous amount of love, labor and money to care for the OAEC gardens, orchards and wild lands, and to create facilities and infrastructure that enables OAEC to actualize its programs.

2. LAEV Los Angeles Eco Village - consists of the two blocks of Bimini and White House Place in the north end of the Wilshire Center/Koreatown area of Los Angeles.

Beverly Vermont Community Land Trust - The Beverly Vermont Community Land Trust (BVCLT) is a nonprofit 501.c.3 organization founded by L.A. Eco-Villager intentional community members, CRSP and Cultivating Sustainable Communities.  BVCLT  specializes in helping to create permanently affordable housing for low to moderate income households  dedicated to lower impact living patterns.

3. Mariposa Grove - Mariposa Grove is a member-owned, consensus-based intentional community in an urban setting that supports sustainability, social justice activism, creativity and the arts.  We are creating a permanently affordable home, a physical and social space where we share resources and responsibilities, grow together and support each other to fulfill our personal dreams while providing a model for the larger community of which we are a part.

NCLT Northern California Land Trust - is a community-based not-for-profit committed to making homes and community facilities permanently affordable through the community land trust (CLT) model. The NCLT executes our mission by providing housing services, community development, and consulting/training services.

4. EVI EcoVillage at Ithaka -  EcoVillage currently includes two 30-home cohousing neighborhoods, FROG and SONG, and a third neighborhood TREE is under construction.

FROG Neighborhood - "First Residents Group", The group is legally structured as a housing cooperative (EcoVillage Cohousing Cooperative), in which members purchase shares that are associated with their unit through a proprietary lease. The group acted as the developer, while Housecraft Builders, Inc. was hired as architect, builder, and development consultant.

SONG Neighborhood - "SecOnd Neighborhood Group", has 30 homes with 55 adults and 30 children. SONG completed construction of its 30 homes (15 duplexes) in 2004, and its Common House in 2006. All SONG homes have achieved EnergyStar certification.

TREE Neighborhood - We plan to be a neighborhood of 40 homes designed to accommodate different-sized households and will have both shared and private gardens and other outdoor spaces. The neighborhood, to be finished in 2013, is located on a beautiful hilltop close to woodland, the first two EVI neighborhoods, and to a planned educational facility. 

Center for Transformative Action - The EVI-CSE, a project of the Center for Transformative Action, promotes experiential learning about ways of meeting human needs for shelter, food, energy, livelihood and social connectedness that are aligned with the long-term health and viability of Earth and its inhabitants

In its 40-year history, Damanhur has realized an extremely practical dream:

to be a spiritual eco-community where 600 citizens have given rise to a multilingual society, open to exchange with the world and with diverse cultures of its people, whose relations are inspired by solidarity, a sense of responsibility, play, humor and creativity. 

Today, Damanhur is a place for exploring the profound values of life, through action and investigation in various areas: culture, work, art, sustainability, the economy and research into the subtle energies that guide the universe.