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| A place or religious community regarded as sacredly devoted to God Free On-Line Dictionary I love wandering around our city; finding the most interesting things in somewhat random places.
A few Saturdays ago we were in search of a
particular food cart that specializes in grown-up grilled cheese sammies,
cheese plates and well, a lot of things “cheese.” The cart is located on Northeast Alberta, an
area we often frequent. We dined al
fresco on melted goodness – mine was layers of roasted golden beets with
habanero cheese – delightful! Lonny’s choice was pickled egg with dill
cheddar – more toasty gooeyness.
Deciding to walk around the neighborhood, we
discovered an adjacent vacant lot with graffiti on the wall. No big deal, right? After all, we do live in a city; you see the
scrawls all the time. However, as we
approached the side of the building the word “Zion” had been sprayed over the
multiple layers of writings. Lon snapped
a quick picture with his phone. Fascinating…the
end. Not quite.
Maybe, this was a “writing on the wall”
moment. You see, Portland is
exceptionally un-churched and is very much a me-centric culture; yet at the same
time very community minded. The profound
message to me was Zion, which represents God’s chosen, was present in this
abandoned lot. It was inscribed over the
top of the existing scribbles.
As we live
in our communities are we etching the word “Zion” over the unoccupied places in
people’s lives? There’s a lot of
lost-ness happening…even with what looks like successful lives. Look at the expressions you see.
Zion also stands
for community. When you are out walking,
eating at a food cart or attending a concert in the park, participate, engage
in conversation. Our lives should be the
“writing on the wall.”
Wandering and discovering ~ Missy
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we took a stinkin' lot of dirt roads, but i wouldn't have it any other way The drive wasn’t long by west coast standards, a mere few of hours; which meant there was plenty of leisure (interpreted coffee time) before leaving on another road trip escapade. I can’t begin to tell you how much fun it is to pack a bag, gas up the car and set out to see what can be seen. An interesting thing I’ve discovered on these exploits, is that having lived in Oregon for the majority of my life, I’ve missed “seeing” a lot of things. You know, I think we all get into the habit of going to the same places, which is a good thing, but we forget about the “other” places that are right in our own backyards. Case in point, yesterday afternoon, when my darling man and I went to Tumalo Falls. I’ve been to Skyliner Snow Park, but never gone the few more dirt road miles to see the falls. Holy cow! Is that lame, or what? a sweet little place, no frills, but plenty of yesteryear ...
A sign I saw in Portland says, "Keep Portland Weird" ZION is desperately needed there.
ReplyDeleteThere certainly is a lot of "weirdness" here ... people who are desperate. That's why we are here.
DeleteVery thought provoking. I did not know Portland was an "un-churched" community. That could start a long conversation. Especially since I'm relatively new here.
ReplyDeleteWe are relatively new as well ... almost two years, and are still discovering so much. The need is great in our City. It gives us a sense of purpose and mission - loving God and loving people.
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