Luke 10: 25-37

I’m amazed at how much we tend to draw from this passage, given how simple it is. I wondered last night if it was best to use the most simple interpretation possible.

Jesus seems to define neighbour as one who does good to another. In the story he illustrates, the neighbour in the story radically goes out of his way to do good. Jesus tells the religious leader he’s speaking to, to “go and do likewise,” indicating that the he should BE the definition of neighbour. Jesus supersedes the original command.

The samaritan in the story took initiative to enter into the world of someone not at all like him. He forgot his agenda and invested his time and resources to help the man.

Which leads me to a conclusion. When we pray, let’s not ask for our enemy to change, let’s ask for God to change us into more loving people. Before we cast the first stone… and all that.

quick facts

• connecticut is the richest state.
• hartford is the 6th poorest city, not because it’s doing better, but because others are doing worse.
• more girls have babies here than kids who graduate high school
• the north end has a median annual income of $6000, that’s half of the national poverty level
• home ownership rates are the lowest they’ve ever been, <10%
• 1/2 of the population can read at the first grade level
• every child knows someone who has been shot/murdered
• unemployment rate is high, and very few are gainfully employed
• 1/3 african american, 1/3 caribbean, 1/3 puerto rican.  < 1% white

Psalms 5

I wonder what kind of wrongs David is speaking of concerning his enemies in the fifth psalm.  Specifically, he mentions at least two things:  arrogance and deceitfulness, but he also says, “You hate all who do wrong.”  It makes me ask what it was that separated the righteous from the unrighteous; namely David, from his enemies.  In David’s eyes, what ultimately caused him to fall into God’s favour, even though he had and would continue to do wrong?

Psalms 3+4

Following along with the previous two Psalms, in Pslams 3 and 4, David illustrates the closeness and sovereignity of God as well as God’s relational nature.  David prays to God as if he is talking to a king who is out for David’s best interst.  “I lie down and sleep; I wake again because the Lord sustains me.  I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.”  (verses 5+6)  David recognizes God as both a sustainer and a protector.

Goals

We prayed specifically about how we’d like to grow/change/develop during the course of this summer.

Cara – Learn more about inner-city life and the kids’ lives and problems.  Also, learn more about living in community.

Alyssa – Grow in compassion

Julie – Develop relationships with kids, but especially more with families and neighbours since she’ll be living here in Hartford once the summer is over.

Brit – Develop depth in relationships.  Enter into the pain of the people here and step into their shoes.

Steve (me) – Meet God daily.  Explore different areas of my faith and relationships with other people.

Amy – Come to the end of the summer with confidence that we did our best with relationships this summer that can be continued and sustainable.  To not be anxious and to give her concerns to the Lord.

Psalms 1+2

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will be destroyed.
Psalms 1:6

Something that I noticed from Psalms 1+2 is the importance of closeness with God.  In verse 3, this idea is expressed metaphorically: “They are like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaves do not whither – whatever they do prospers.”  The causal chain of this verse starts with proximity.  Everything good that happens to this tree is based on its closeness to its source of water.

words

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:15-20

June 1, 2009 at 8:23PM

What is the state of my soul?
Excited and expectant.
What am I excited about?
Familiar faces and the kids we’ll be working with.

Late Night May 31

I love moving into a new place.  The room I’m in on the third floor is cluttered with not-so-soon-to-be-used furniture.  It’s got its own kind of charm, like the square table with two chairs wedged into the corner opposite by bed, and the wardrobe with its doors falling off the hinges.

Even though it seemed like I brought a lot of stuff, it only takes space in the closet and in/around the dresser.  My books, which I now feel so secure having here, are still in the shoebox – turned sideways on the dresser; a makeshift bookshelf.  Not all of the books fit into the box, so the game of Risk acts as a book end.  Everything in this room has a home.  It’s so easy to be organized with so few things.

The Arrival

Some quick details for those tuning in for the first time:

• The Vine – Hartford City Mission’s ministry house where i’m living during the summer.  It’s in the middle of the North End of Hartford.  I’m living upstairs on the third floor with the rest of the guys in the regular community.  The rest of the interns (Cara, Julie, Brittany, Alisa) are living on the first floor where I lived last summer.  You can isit the HCM Website to see where I’m living.
• Camp Noah – The after summer-school camp program, which is an extension of the Noah After School program HCM usually runs where they tutor kids on homework and work on art projects.