Coffee Shop Journal

Last night David and I were driving down from New Hampshire to Boston, and were listening to Michael Savage, a conservative talk show host. His show is not something we usually listen to, but there were limited options last night! One of his spur-of-the-moment topics caught my attention. He described a park that he bikes through near his home. In the park there is a thriving hispanic community, and he sees them there playing soccer each week. The families all come to watch and cook out on the park grills, with the kids running around and the gramma’s watching from the sidelines. Savage went on to discuss how this community in this lower-income neighborhood all knows each other, supports each other and builds a community identity. It was, he said, a beautiful example of interconnectedness.

Then Savage went on to discuss the changes that occur in a cultural community like the hispanic one he described when the first generation of “Americans” grow up. These new Americans tend to take on more American characteristics, including the value of independence. They move out of the old neighborhood because they have worked hard and prospered. But in doing so, they usually sign a death warrant for the type of close-knit community they previously enjoyed. Within a generation they are living isolated from each other in suburbs, living the American life.

Later on the same drive, I heard John Tesh cite a statistic that most people only have one or two close friends, while a full 25% say they have no friends at all.

America is hungry for true community, and they don’t even know it. I believe that this hunger is the window of opportunity for Jesus Followers to step into. We have an opportunity to intentionally become the glue that holds communities and people together. There are more ways to do this than we can imagine…we just have to step out and pick one! For me, community is developed in two places: home, and the coffee shops around town. Others choose to work through small groups, or community activities. Some work through the church and some choose to work outside the church. But in every case I believe that Christians have the answer for the feeling of disconnectedness that plagues America. God says that he “sets the lonely in families.” I want to be that family.

This is my entry into Watercooler Wednesday at Ethos - a Cultural Watercooler!