THE TRIQUETRA OF LIFE: Wisdom, Wealth, and Wellness

An Excerpt from Chapter Thirty

Path Perilous: My Search for God and the Miraculous

Summer, 1968, age 26

I learned of an intentional community attempting to live as the first Christians. They called themselves the Bruderhof, which in German means “house of brothers.” One was located nearby in northern Connecticut, so I phoned ahead to be sure of my welcome as a weekend guest at their Deer Spring community.

Doris and Jack drove me fifty miles from Leverett, Massachusetts, south across the Connecticut border to Enfield. The gravel driveway crunched beneath the tires as we turned in. We parked beside a stone wall that extended around the community. Through its floral wrought-iron gate, I could see a three-story gray granite structure with a steep Swiss roofline. Potted red geraniums bloomed beneath each window, trim and evenly spaced in deliberate European style. The sweet scent of blooming flowers greeted me as I walked toward the office. Soon after I checked in, my friends waved goodbye and left.

Men in work overalls sawed and hammered on the rooftops of half-finished housing alongside that six-foot fieldstone wall. Beyond the rooftops, acres of community buildings and green pasturage stretched outward, dotted with grazing cows and bleating sheep. Nearby, a small stream gurgled into a pond where ducks and swans lazily drifted.

A young mother with a long golden braid, wearing an embroidered ethnic dress, walked toward a fieldstone building. Three towhead children followed her, each shorter than the one before. Their little parade was charming.

Only after seeing all this did I feel as though I had entered a protective bubble that suspended time. Had I entered a twilight zone … maybe a picture-postcard? I was eager to discover more about this place that seemed not of this world.

From the memoir-in-progress, nearing publication:
Path Perilous: My Search for God and the Miraculous
—a spiritual epic for truth-seekers, contemplative mystics, and all who long for God.

Visit www.RMDellOrfanoAuthor.com and pass it forward.