(ACTUAL DATE THIS WAS WRITTEN: 8/26/03)
Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon I'll be going downtown to learn more about the area. I'll walk the downtown area, sit and observe the people and places of the downtown area and hopefully talk to those that either work there and/or live there. During this time I'll also do a lot of praying and journalizing. Yesterday (8/26) was my first day to be there.
8/26 The Downtown Church Plant
Today is my first time to come to the downtown area with the intent to think about, pray about and write about the future church plant.
I arrived downtown on the 4 train. I emerged in Battery Park. To my surprise I noticed the famous World Trade Center "Sphere" in the middle of the park. I was immediately drawn to the Sphere. I was not alone.
After looking at the Sphere and reading the plaque and watching the eternal flame burn, I stepped back to watch others take in the broken, battered and bruised monument.
Some passers-by were strictly that. They were just passing by. It was evident that they worked and maybe even lived nearby. Some of those didn't give the Sphere the time of day but some made passing glances. It was if they had seen enough already.
Tour guides passed through. One guide spoke in Italian, another in Spanish and still another in German.
A family stopped. They were clearly tourists. The two young children received lectures from their parents on what they were witnessing. The kids took it in and then ran to play with the pigeons. The parents didn't notice the kids straying from the monument. They were overcome with the spectacle of the shattered Sphere.
A bike messenger was hurrying to his next stop when he suddenly put on his brakes. He looked up to the Sphere, shook his head in disbelief, disgust and frustration and fled away.
People took pictures from all angles. I'm sure it wasn't that they wanted 5, 10, or 15 pictures of the Sphere but because they were somehow trying to capture the meaning of the monument and a still picture was the best they could do.
People video-ed the Sphere as well. Again, not so much because they couldn't wait to get home to see the monument on tape but because they were trying desperately to recall the feelings of 9/11 and trying to reconcile and put closure to the events of 9/11.
It was amazing to watch people as some were seen shedding tears. Were they crying because they lost a loved one? a friend? Some were instantly reminded of how precious life is as they were seen hugging and grasping hands and putting arms around each other.
Some were even seen laughing. I don't think they were being rude or disrespectful but were reminded that laughing was how some of those who lost their lives, lived their lives.
To say the least, I didn't make it anywhere else today in the downtown area. I just soaked up the Sphere monument and all it's implications.
The plaque at the monument reads, "the Sphere...endures as an icon of hope." My prayer is that the church we plant in this very neighborhood will too be a representation of hope: the kind of hope received through the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Lord, may you guide this work as we strive to restore hope in this broken, battered and bruised neighborhood. Amen.
Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon I'll be going downtown to learn more about the area. I'll walk the downtown area, sit and observe the people and places of the downtown area and hopefully talk to those that either work there and/or live there. During this time I'll also do a lot of praying and journalizing. Yesterday (8/26) was my first day to be there.
8/26 The Downtown Church Plant
Today is my first time to come to the downtown area with the intent to think about, pray about and write about the future church plant.
I arrived downtown on the 4 train. I emerged in Battery Park. To my surprise I noticed the famous World Trade Center "Sphere" in the middle of the park. I was immediately drawn to the Sphere. I was not alone.
After looking at the Sphere and reading the plaque and watching the eternal flame burn, I stepped back to watch others take in the broken, battered and bruised monument.
Some passers-by were strictly that. They were just passing by. It was evident that they worked and maybe even lived nearby. Some of those didn't give the Sphere the time of day but some made passing glances. It was if they had seen enough already.
Tour guides passed through. One guide spoke in Italian, another in Spanish and still another in German.
A family stopped. They were clearly tourists. The two young children received lectures from their parents on what they were witnessing. The kids took it in and then ran to play with the pigeons. The parents didn't notice the kids straying from the monument. They were overcome with the spectacle of the shattered Sphere.
A bike messenger was hurrying to his next stop when he suddenly put on his brakes. He looked up to the Sphere, shook his head in disbelief, disgust and frustration and fled away.
People took pictures from all angles. I'm sure it wasn't that they wanted 5, 10, or 15 pictures of the Sphere but because they were somehow trying to capture the meaning of the monument and a still picture was the best they could do.
People video-ed the Sphere as well. Again, not so much because they couldn't wait to get home to see the monument on tape but because they were trying desperately to recall the feelings of 9/11 and trying to reconcile and put closure to the events of 9/11.
It was amazing to watch people as some were seen shedding tears. Were they crying because they lost a loved one? a friend? Some were instantly reminded of how precious life is as they were seen hugging and grasping hands and putting arms around each other.
Some were even seen laughing. I don't think they were being rude or disrespectful but were reminded that laughing was how some of those who lost their lives, lived their lives.
To say the least, I didn't make it anywhere else today in the downtown area. I just soaked up the Sphere monument and all it's implications.
The plaque at the monument reads, "the Sphere...endures as an icon of hope." My prayer is that the church we plant in this very neighborhood will too be a representation of hope: the kind of hope received through the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Lord, may you guide this work as we strive to restore hope in this broken, battered and bruised neighborhood. Amen.
posted by jch at
11:37 AM
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