Suffering Accepted in FAITH redeems

February 3, 2008
It's a Sunday that i start this thing (a blog) i have been thinking about for weeks- so I think I will make it tradition to entry (at least in the beginning) on this "day of rest"

This blog is going to consist of the following:
Normal day to day journal entries
Poetry (a new development)
Favorite lyrics and quotes
To do Lists
Movie, Play, Book, Music reviews
Personal musings and philosophical questions...
and probably some major venting sessions

Since I just completed a January Term course this past Wednesday, I will share some of my closing thoughts on it. I took "Harrisburg and the Neighborhoods" for an anthropology topics requirement, and a group of 2 other girls along with my self did an in-depth (for a month-so not that indepth) study of the neighborhood, Midtown in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, approximately 10 minute drive from Messiah College

I wrote Jan, 28, 2008
What preconcieved ideas of yours-about Harrisburg (abbreviation now: Hburg) or about cities in general-has been challenged?
I thought Hburg was pretty small; i only had seen Market Street and the Capitol District because of a friend who had started working and living in the city for his first job out of college. He has given me somewhat of a perspective-and it has been that socially it is pretty lame and he's said to me, "I'm over Hburg" (as in he will move in the next year). Work-wise he likes his job and the company very much, but unfortunately Hburg's other aspects are not fulfilling my friend's needs and desires. I have gone to City Island to watch a soccer game and eaten out on 2nd street a few times with my friend. We also saw a Shakespeare play outdoors at Resevior Park in the summer.
My preconcieved notions were that Hburg was a rather poor and needy city with much needed economic growth and activity. It didn't seem thriving to me- besides for 2nd street (a.k.a. Restaurant Row) and the Strawberry Square, which are both in the Capitol, Downtown district. I think traveling around Midtown, which is much more residential than Downtown (boundaries go from Forestor to Maclay and Front to 7th Street) and talking to many developers, that my notion of a dead city has been challenged. Also the large amount of the population being young professionals and/or empty nesters was news to me. Earlier i never thought to consider that, but now because most of the buildings in the Capitol/downtown district make up most of Hburg; that is translation for who or what type of people inhabit the city. I never did think of how this also effects what happens at night after five when they all go home. Alot of my flat assumptions of the city (that it is small, not much to offer, dirty) were challenged during this course by trying to figure out why these things were that way? Learning that every place has a unique history and that so much goes into the success or failure of a shop, realtor, restuarant, retail store, book store, movie cinema, and green spaces. And meeting residents we interviewed was a challenge because of how much they cared and were involved in their neighborhood; I guess I just would not have even imagined such people. Silly me:)

What does an urban spirituality (an urban life of faith, a journey of faith in the city) look like? What does "the city" mean for your spirituality?
What does an urban spirituality look like; to me an urban spirituality no matter what condition the city is in, the faith communities are rally alive and vibrant. I think it cannot help being so because it is surrounded by poverty, crime, and opportunities to better those problems as a Christian is called to do-service. Also in an urban setting there is so much change that happens and so new people groups and organizations come and go and can contribute greatly to a sprititual vision of the city. An urban setting provides long term residents too, who can give much wisdom to the area the faith community may desire to reach out to. I think in the city it is much easier to be diverse; be surrounded by all sorts of races, ethnicities, perspectives, professions, etc. and this can increase one's spirituality by preventing stagnancy and sameness.