The Local Village

I didn't make to Krug Park this week, but I am praying on this today from the website of The Simple Way.

We have a dream of a village in the middle of the urban desert – with a little cluster of row homes sprinkled about and a neighborhood where folks are committed to God and to each other. Some are indigenous to the neighborhood. Some are missional relocators. Some have gone off to school, trained as doctors, lawyers, social workers, business folks… and they have returned to the neighborhood to offer their gifts to the work of restoration. The houses are small, and that is all we need – a place to lay our heads… because most of our life is lived on the streets, on the stoop, sweating in the practice of resurrection, planting gardens on abandoned lots, rehabbing vacant houses, and making ugly things beautiful again. Every morning we greet the day with prayer, and in the evenings we share a meal or grill out on the street. We have a dream of a village and it’s coming to life. Maybe sometime there will be a village center where folks can cook healthy breakfasts for the kids as they head off to school. Maybe we’ll have a tool library so folks can check out a saw or drill for the day… maybe an exercise space to lift weights, run on the treadmill or do an aerobics class to keep our bodies healthy. Perhaps in that center there are laundry machines that we can all share and a game library where kids can borrow a game for the afternoon. A place to gather and dream and plot goodness.
It’s a dream for a village that shares things in common, that laughs in the face of a recession… a space that makes sure possessions and privileges are available for all… and when something breaks there are many hands to fix it. Call it new urbanism… or intentional community. We call it a village that gives the world a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. May God continue to breathe life into our dreams and to move the universe towards the beloved community that God is longing to see come on earth.

I am praying to have a similar dream, or whatever needs to be dreamed here in my neighborhood of Maple Village and the Belvedere Point Neighborhood of the Church of the Resurrection. Please pray for and with me.