I get afraid, too.
Ursula’s friend’s car also got shot - and somehow got a flat tire. I’ve got a new joke now, though. “How many St.Louis Street residents does it take to change a flat tire? The Answer — 6. That’s how many of us were out on the street trying to figure out how to change one flat tire. Thank God for good neighbors.
I guess, though I get somewhat scared at times, I also see hope here in Boyle Heights. Hope that good neighbors outnumber the bad. That two sisters and their friend aren’t stuck alone changing a tire at 11pm on a Saturday night. Hope that our friends - former students that we discipled - whose wedding we were coming from, have just moved into the neighborhood, just down the street. That even though this is the barrio, that good neighbors live here, too.
August 7th, 2005 at 3:15 pm
Scott, how do you interact with God over the things that happen in your neighborhood?
August 7th, 2005 at 4:52 pm
I can think of 3-4 ways that I interact with God over my neighborhood:
1) We’ve tried to continue to plant our roots here. About 10 months after we first moved in, 2 young men (19 & 24) were shot & killed not more than 30 feet from our front door.
Inspite of the violence, we made a choice then not to move out. We knew that nobody wants to live near violence, but also that violence wouldn’t leave if all of the good people left. So we’ve stayed & continue to build our life here.
God told the exiles in Jeremiah to “seek the welfare of the city” because if it prospered, they would,too. I’m trying to see that truth in practice.
2) We’ve been praying regularly for our neighborhood with a small group of 5-6 neighbors for the past 2-3 years. We’ve seen some significant change over the course of that time.
3) I write about my neighborhood on this blog - both to talk about the real issues & realities of the barrio, as well as to debunk a lot of the misconceptions & also false faith ‘responses’ to barrio issues.
4) I’ve been slowly growing in my understanding of the political and economic realities that shape our neighborhood, as well as interfacing more with the larger systems that impact us here - like the neighborhood council, the MTA, etc. Since my ministry focus isn’t primarily this neighborhood, I’m really trying to be “a good neighbor” here, not a superhero.
As such, some of how I interact with God is private & personal, but another part of how I interact with God is increasingly more public & social. Not sure I have “the answers.” Just some convictions I’m trying to live out.
September 2nd, 2005 at 11:35 am
As we watch the thin veneer of order blown away by Hurricant Katrina only to reveal the poverty, violence, and injustice of our inner cities, I am struck by the power of a good neighbor to trasnform the inner city. My hope is that should our time come and disaster arrive, that the winds of chaos would find not the face of disorder and injustice, but only that of the good neighbor and a city redeemed.
September 2nd, 2005 at 12:14 pm
That’s a good word about neighbors & disasters. We certainly can’t “prepare” enough for any type of disaster, since, as my mom used to say, nobody plans for an accident.
What we can prepare our hearts - not through fear, or worry, but through integrity in our lives and with our words, valuing others needs, investing ourselves in the lives of others around us.