city

A Lament for My Community

Crissy Brooks — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 10:37:43 -0700

A year ago this month the Lord spoke to me about "Embrace." I decided to go through my days embracing the people, situations, and opportunities that presented themselves. It turns out that this posture has led to me having to embrace a lot of pain- my own pain and brokenness, the pain of my friends, and the pain of my city. In learning to embrace, I have been learning a lot about lament and mourning. In my attempt to obey the call to embrace, I have found the Scriptures rich with lament and mourning that is raw and open before the Lord. These passages have become my comfort and guide and my permission to cry out in a world that tempts me to numb, distract, and fake my feelings.

I share here a lament I wrote for my city:

My Lament:

God, my heart cries out to you for we are deaf dogs- those that do not hear!

You created us to be fierce for the things of you and yet we refuse to be led by you.

We were created for companionship and yet unable to hear how you are leading us to one another.

Father, we are hidden away in secret, dark places; we are stuck in nooks and crannies hidden from our neighbors and isolated from our community.

We put up fences and gates.

We trust in liquor and chain link to protect and save us.

How long, Oh Lord, will we protect ourselves and stay hidden? When will your light shine on us?

Lord, our lives are empty like the buildings around us- vacant and waiting; empty and exposed.

Where is the abundance you promised? When will we know your fullness of joy?

Our heads are down.

We do things we were not created for.

We walk on in the paths never intended for us.

Oh God, unstop our ears

Oh Lord, lift our heads

Oh Father, fill our empty places.

That we will no longer pass by one another

That we will no longer walk past death

That we will no longer live in secret

But shout for joy and declare your Name in our city, for Your glory.

Oh God, unstop our ears, lift our heads, and fill our empty places I pray.

Amen

A Small Town Perspective on City Growth

bo.white — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 14:44:54 -0700

A May 2007 article from the Economist still seems like one of the better surveys of urban growth that I have read.

With that said, let me give a bit of a personal perspective and see if this resonates with anyone. Until I was 17 years old, I lived in a town of less than 5000 people in Northern Illinois. No one asked what school I went to, there was only one option. The only major fast food chain was Hardee's and Main Street was truly the main street. Over the years, I have seen the exodus of people my age and younger leave to head to Chicago, the nearest big city or to the four cornes of the earth. Why? First, two major factories shut down. The General Electric and Ethan Allen factories, which used to employ about a third of the town, each closed. Secondly, the surrounding areas were also hit with not lack of people, but lack of opportunity. Cities kept changing; small towns, well, did not. And it's this dynamic that haunts my hometown.

What makes any small town fun to be from is the fact that not much changes. It's reliable and in my case, it's home. Parades down Main Street display the homecoming queen and returning Veterans from international wars. Most of the town still shows up for high school football games and the pace of life is still more in line with the farm community than any of the local doctors or lawyers. In the morning, you can see restaurants packed with farmers discussing politics, religion, and the town gossip over coffee and some kind of biscuit drenched in gravy. That's important, by the way, both the coffee (because farm work starts way too early for most sane people) and the biscuit drenched in gravy (what else is going to soak up the sausage grease after the hash browns are gone?).

In a recent trip to see my parents, some of the Main Street shops are boarded up and the small businesses are struggling. I can still catch up on most of the town news by lingering at the front of the only grocery store in town, but life is getting to be more and more difficult. The hope of youth is not as prevalent and the security of living one's whole life in familiar territory is also fading. The relational beauty of a small town is being tested by the economic realities of our globalizing culture. Interestingly, I find that many people in cities want to be connected as if they were in a small town. They want predictable, reliable relationships and a culture that embraces them from day one. They want to come 'home' and not simply be one of the millions that walk the streets in search of a home. Yet, no city will return to former days. No, we're on the fast paced track of heading toward the future, whatever that future may be.

Small towns, though, are not in a rush toward anything, rather they often resemble a long walk with friends where the journey is more fun than the arrival. And to me, small towns are being left behind not simply because of business decisions to outsource or relocate, but because a certain pace, a certain lifestyle is also being left behind. It's not enough to be a thriving farm community that produces a good crop, today you must raise chickens who have been accelerated way beyond what any normal bird should endure and you must produce enough corn, not simply to eat, but to utilize for corn syrup, ethanol, and a host of other, well, convenient uses. Are their problems in a thriving small town? Sure. When my parents divorced it took no time at all for news to travel and the awkwardness with some neighborhoods still lingers for all involved. Some friends have never left, nor will they ever leave, so to try to explain why I have moved around a bit and have traveled to over 15 countries is sometimes irrelevant.

City growth is here to stay and it's doubtful that there will be any flight to return to small town life or a slower pace of life, unless, of course, that becomes prosperous or economically advantageous. Of course, I am part of the engine that drives this change or at least I have temporarily bought into the lie that progress is more urban than a small town. I do wonder, though, if urban growth can truly sustain our relational need to know and be known? Will we take the time to truly be present with one another and not simply walk on by on the way to somewhere else? Surely, only time will tell. How much time you have? Well, that's probably up to you.

thanks...

Prayer from the Mesa

Crissy Brooks — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:41:00 -0800

This week was our city prayer meeting. A group of us from different sectors gather monthly to seek the peace and prosperity of our city together. This month we were praying for the lonely in our community. We split into small groups and the pastor in my group started it off. "Lord", he prayed, "I'm lonely today." That was as far as he got. He hung his head, unable to continue. We sat in silence for a moment and then I reached out and began praying for my brother. It was as if his sincerity broke open our prayers. From there we prayed for others who may be lonely: single parents, seniors, prisoners, the hospitalized, , those far from home...it just kept going. As we prayed for each one, the Holy Spirit led our prayers, reminding us of others.

As our group prayed I could hear Marguerite, a 92 year old retired minister, begging God for revival. She prays with authority and the familiarity that comes with decades of walking with Jesus. I could hear my mom, in another circle, crying as she prayed and as we finished others commented on how the Holy Spirit guided the time and opened our eyes.

If you walked in you may have seen two dozen people in small circles, heads bowed. What we experienced and believe is happening is that God's Kingdom is coming and will is being done in Costa Mesa as it is in heaven. Who do you join with to seek God for your city? If you are in the Newport-Mesa area of California, come join us the second Wednesday of each month. It is the best work I did all week.