Christ is in the City

I like the image Howard Moody has of the city as both a sacrament and as a symbiosis. These images were new to me, yet I understood them. Thinking about all of the creations of God coming together in their infinite diversity and appearing as the city is poetic and so real. As city dwellers, we must look inwardly to have a silent and still moment.

However, we must also notice how children playing in the hydrants, jumping rope, or following us around are clear signs of God in the city. Old women sitting on their stoops laughing, sharing their life stories, and keeping an eye on the children are experiences of God in the city. Sleeping with the homeless in Love Park is God alive in the city. God is laughing, crying, screaming, and watching in the city. In the city, God’s children from every corner of the world are gathered and God smiles. His kingdom is coming full circle here as the poor are clothed and fed, prisoners are visited, and flowers spring up from the cracks of the sidewalk where a shooting occurred.

In my childhood, I experienced God in the crackling sounds and vibrant colors of the Aurora Borealis, the crystal clear waters of Alaska’s wilderness, and the magnificent mountain ranges that reached the heavens. As an adult, when I sought God in the city, I didn’t expect to find Him there. To my surprise, I not only found Him, but found Him in abundance. He was in the eyes of the crack feen on my corner, in the cries of the mother who watched her son as he was taken away, and in the laughter of children on my block. It was clear that God was here.

I believe that urban spirituality is found in relationship with others. It is not dependant on nature and solitude, but rather in the connection of one person to another in “everyday experiences.” As a city dweller, I am given the opportunity everyday to help someone who is in need. Though I know that human suffering exists outside the walls of the city, I find it so clear in my everyday experience and, as Freire explains, it has “built a capacity for hope through (my) spirituality.”