University of Portland - Log Yearbook (Portland, OR)

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The problem with the K-I-louse is that I love it. K-I-louse- Koinonia I-louse-633 S. VV. Montgomery Street. The problem with the K-House is that it is a S300,000 palace, and a palace supported by Christians, a palace run by good liberal activists, and believe me, the K-I-louse is doing good things. The K-I-louse is involved with draft counseling, runaway programs, free schools, seminars and classes on anything from mysticism to changing life styles. K-I-louse tries to be flexible, but not amorphous. IVlost of all, the K-I-louse is involved with personal, independent counseling The main problem with K-I-louse is that it's run by human beings. The K-I-louse is not flawless. The K-I-louse is a political vanguard trying to bridge the gap between traditions and far-out ideas. The K-House is constantly up against the wall about money, but the K-I-louse is not so strapped that it is going to fall down or crumble, even if the S300,000 palace is built on a bed of sand. I have been involved with the K-I-louse since 1960, longer than anyone on the staff, and probably longer than most on the board. In the early years, the first seven years, the Koinonia House was simply a campus ministry which existed in several buildings, each time being forced to move because of the over-expanding university. In those years, I recall the K-House being mostly a social club for good Christians. The college kids in those days sat around and played cards and listened to the relevant liberal theological theories of the day. And of course, there was individual ministry, where you could go to the minister or priest, and seek personal guidance. I went through several ministers and priests in those days about my sexual hang-ups and my religious problem. Those ministers and priests probably saved my life, probably kept my 28 body and soul together, probably kept me from plunging a knife into my guts. And they did not stop me from making sarcastic remarks about Christianity. They tried to tell me to be more realistic, but that did not stop me. I guess the beginning of K-House activism was the Agora Coffeehouse, which I helped to get started, but which I later detested. I always thought the Agora was good, but I did not like to go there. They did not serve booze and in those days I was into drinking. Furthermore, the atmosphere of the Agora seemed so far removed from the realities I was seeking. Even today, the K-I-louse in some ways to me is far too serious about its future existence, and is not commiting itself to day to day living and day to day confrontation of problems which relate to the people of the hard core inner city. Because this paper is a love story about the K-House, I feel the need to tell my own personal feelings. In a way I am a K-I-louse minister. I have made a subconscious commitment to the K-House. I am a non-Christian. I am a spastic. I am lecherous. I am a chauvinist. And my bag is to make people think and to do more than think-to fill 'til their guts wretch and their souls bleed. I guess you could call this the K-House ego, and I have a bad case of it. Many times I get frustrated because the K-l-louse seems to be a pillar of respectability in spite of the long hairs and the liberal challenges to society. Basically, by acknowledging any love for the K-I-louse, I also am acknowledging my self-denial of anarchy and my own ability to be too serious. The problem with the K-House is in my head. The problem with the K-House is that I cannot separate myself from it, and that may be the problem with this article. The problem with the K-I-louse is that I love it.

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