Hopefully we all take some pride in where we live. I mean our homes, where we lay our heads down for rest, where we spend time with our family, where we eat and find shelter. Our homes can be a reflection of who we are. Some of us own our homes, others rent, some may have just a room to call home. Whatever the case, keeping that space requires care. You pick things up, put things away, take things out as you come and go, because you want to maintain your home in order to live in it.
We also have a community home, in the sense of an actual space, which includes our public meeting places at Broad and Washington and East. Here is where we interact as a community on an on-going basis. Many of us have made a commitment, a covenant, to call this our community home. A place to worship, find joy, learn to love and to do this with many different kinds of people. As we do this we create a place similar to home where we come and go, bring things in and take stuff away. There is wear and tear and we do our best to maintain the space and take pride in where we are living.
Here, I think of the analogy of doing chores as a kid. Occasionally, I had to paint a room, cut the lawn, stack firewood or others big jobs during summer break. And more consistently, I had to sweep the stairs, clean my room, do the dishes, and take care of the other daily messes that occurred. My parents often had to keep on me to do these things and sometimes had to bribe me, but in the end these things had to be done. And doing them gave me a strong sense of ownership and respect for my home.
Our communal home, the spaces at Circle of Hope that we all use, should be regarded similarly. We are all God’s children. We have been blessed with a place to call home and there will be chores to do in the course of living there. What do you do that influences our home at Circle? If you show up, it’s bound to be a reflection, in some part, of who you are. We should all be thinking about it as a home and wondering how we keep it looking and feeling like that. Because we live there, we will always be cleaning up messes, fixing doors, hanging pictures, maintaining offices and equipment. So, decide what kind of “chores” you need to do this month to care for our home at Circle.
I like how practical this blog is; and, like me, I like to look at things on a metaphorical level. Some of believe that God lives inside of us; are we taking care of the place where He lives?
I used to visit Circle of Hope many, many years ago when it was upstairs on top of a food market near Jefferson’s campus. In fact, I would sit on the ledge across the street and listen because I was too nervous to come inside! Well, I am relocating to Philadelphia next week and am so looking forward to attending services at Broad and Washington with my son who is seven.
And now we have one more “room” of our community “home” - our new building for Circle Thrift at 2233 Frankford! Thanks for the doorknob repair, Zach.
Good call Zach! I was just talking with a friend about practically speaking how many chores there are around here to keep things moving forward with the Spirit. Many hands make the work light. What a privelege to have things to do, to have a house to keep! Glad to be doing it with you, and so many others.