Participation in the Life of Jesus through His Church

So.  I've been absent for a bit...  I decided to try on the whole "hospitality" thing by having 6 additional family members with us this past week.  We had 8 children under the age of 8 with us!  We had a blast, however time for blogging I had not!

I read this quote today on Frank Viola's blog (he is both a proponent of simple church and church planter-- see his blog under "My Blog List" at left)

The NT doesn’t call us to an “imitation of Christ” = trying to copy His life. It instead calls us to a “participation in His life.” The imitation is in the living by Divine life, just as Jesus lived by His Father’s life. “I can do nothing, it’s the Father who does it through me,” the Lord said.

“Not I, but Christ lives through me,” said Paul.

I don't know... I guess that just really hit me today.  What may seem a very minor technicality, really can be a world of difference in our entire belief system and more importantly, how we act on that belief system.  If I believe that it is possible for me to imitate the life of Christ in and of my own power... That's going to look a whole lot different than if I am certain I cannot accomplish that... that my only hope for real life is to lean on the Holy Spirit and pray for the grace to allow that same Spirit to work through me.  

On a lighter note... watched a documentary last night on PBS about farmers' markets... Got thinking about the sweetness of communal/cooperative living...  Any takers?  LoL.