To be honest... I'm not sure yet

The bank teller at Chase confirms my address with me as I get a roll of quarters for my laundry. I'm up in Oak Park, a quaint community about 15-20 minutes away from my neighborhood. Today I'm going to do a run along a road filled with homes designed by the famous architecht Frank Lloyd Wright. I have to admit, I didn't know who he was when I first prepared to move to Chicago, but apparently he is a big deal.

Anyways, back to the bank teller....
"You live in Lawndale?" (an aside: Little Village is also known as South Lawndale).
"Yes" I replied back... she looked at me, a little confused then proceeded with her work.
A couple seconds later she looked up and asked "do you work there?"....
"yes".... I replied...I'm a PA in family practice"
She then quickly remarked "oh do you work at that Christian clinic?"
"Why Yes! I replied, "do you know of it??"
"yes" she replied... but the confused look returned... "you work there but don't live there do you?"
"Yes I do, I live and work there"
She then proceeded to say the same 2 words people have said to me many times over the past couple of weeks.....
"Be careful"

I have numerous moments where i pause wondering why I am doing this... why I live where I live. Especially in really hip/quaint neighborhoods like Oak Park... The anthem "be careful" constantly sings its chorus in my head. I feel a little crazy at times and often ask myself... "are you really going to make a difference, is it worth the risk...????"

To be honest.... I'm not sure yet.

But I will share with you some thoughts about this idea of relocation and the theory behind my decision. The Christian Community Development Association a group with a mission to restore Under-Resourced communities. They believe that a couple of principles are essential to the process of restoration of broken communities: Relocation, Reconciliation, Redistribution. It would take a while to go into each of these but I'm going to chat a little bit about relocation.

There is a Chinese poem that reads:
Go to the people
Live among them
Learn from them
Love them
Start with what they know
Build on what they have
But the best of leaders
When their task is done
The people will remark
"we have done it ourselves"

Bob Lupton, a man doing this very thing in Atlanta with FCS Urban Ministries says
"Common sense tells us to protect our families and our investments from people of detrimental influence. Yet God's desirability quotient seems weighted toward becoming neighbors to people in need. In fact, Jesus, giving the same weight to loving one's neighbor as to loving God, described for us those who needed neighbors- the ill-clothed, the hungry, the homeless stranger, the wounded and the broken.... What is more sobering is that our withdrawal from neighbors in need causes schools to decline, real estate to depreciate, crime to spread, hope to dwindle, communities to collapse, and despair to reign."

So here I am... and I don't know yet if me being here will make a difference but I am praying it will. I don't want to waste my time here and I hope to be able to do a small part in loving this community as I would any community I would have been a part of.

There is a theoretical harmony in my mind that exists when people of different colors, economic backgrounds, educational histories and cultures become neighbors. I will let share with you when I "hear" this harmony manifest itself, I'll also share times when it sounds more like fingernails on a chalk board, but I'm excited to share part of this journey with friends and family that I care for.

Thanks for reading.... I have included some pictures from my day in Oak Park

One of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses I passed on my run

Another Wright house



A hot dog from Tasty Dog.... mmmmmm cucumbers and tomato on a hotdog = yummy