Yachad
Never Being Satisfied
I grew up in the countryside of Japan, surrounded by beautiful mountains and beautiful ocean. The life I lived seemed to be no different than any other, but I felt as if there was something missing deep within my heart that couldn’t be satisfied. “Is there something different? Why am I alive? Is this the way a human being should live? Does God exist?” Many thoughts came to my mind, but I ended up ignoring them, because I couldn’t find the answer, and I couldn’t trust anybody anyway.
Ayil Benyamin
Redeemer
“...help...”
My desperate cry for help began as a whisper, slipping spontaneously from my lips. Late at night, alone in my darkened house, I couldn't sleep, I had paced miles of circles my house. I was hopelessly thinking in circles, too. Over and over I reconsidered what I had said; what she had said. What I did; what she did. What I would do next... or not.
Takif and his family
Have You Met Him?
This is what happened when I came to visit the Community.
Ishah
I Was a Loner
I was a loner. And a cynic. I pored over philosophy books on Friday nights with a box of wine. The little time I did spend with other people ended in debates over the state of humanity, which I believed was doomed. I went to class. I wrote my papers. I passed by on the conveyor belt largely unnoticed. I listened to music, blasting, in my apartment in the slums of Worcester, Massachusetts. I would go hiking and camping whenever my meager funds allowed me. I prided myself in being a headstrong woman, rejecting all the societal norms that tried to confine me.
