There’s comfort in engaging in spiritual practices in a closed community. It’s safe. It’s meaningful. There’s a language that we all speak and know. However, spiritual practices are meant to help us engage the world. They’re meant to give us a frame of reference and ground us with God as we move with the world.
Vulnerable and grounded in God. That’s how we should approach our communities. The story also tells us that disciples should be responsive to people and spaces. They are to bring peace, healing, and hospitality. They are to speak the truth when something is wrong.
Gospel of Luke 10:1
Rev. Kiser described it as teaching “people how to take a walk in the community and just pay attention and listen and foster conversations. And then we [would come] back and talk about what we heard.” It was hard spiritual and relational work. Thankfully, we were willing to go.
What we found that summer was a practical spirituality. Immersed in scripture and prayer we were called to be vulnerable with each other. We didn’t always agree with each other’s interpretation, but we listened to one another. We listened to the Spirit move with our Vision Team. We also listened for the Spirit when we walked in the community.
Albert Einstein
Over time, our conversations began to connect. Scripture came alive as we heard a living word through the relationships we were making. Our commitment to practice, to one another, to vulnerability, and to courage led us to spaces where our hearts broke, just as we’d hoped.
We’d leave and come back. We’d talk about the people we met. We shared what we learned about our community. As the stories unfolded, themes began to emerge. One theme though was stronger than the others.
The people who worked in the shops, the preschools, the non-profits, and the small businesses couldn’t afford to live where they worked. Over time they’d been pushed further and further out of South Arlington. For many, their commute, whether a drive or on public transportation, left them exhausted.
Brené Brown
