听
"In whatever place you live, do not easily leave it."听听听鈥擜bba Anthony, 3rd century AD
* * *
We live in an age characterised by increased mobility.听听It is more and more common for us North Americans to live in many places, have several careers, and to travel often.听听With this backdrop to our lives, the idea to settle down into a single place for the long haul well, that seems kind of quaint, doesn鈥檛 it?听
In spite of the odds, the notion of 鈥榬ooting in place鈥� is becoming increasingly popular with some folks.听
There鈥檚 even a trend out there amongst some Christians to move into a neighbourhood and live, work, shop, get food, play and pray 鈥� yes, even听worship听as close to home as possible. These Christians often quote Eugene Peterson鈥檚 paraphrase of John鈥檚 gospel which, speaking of Jesus, says: 鈥淭he Word became flesh and blood,听and moved into the neighborhood鈥�.听
Yes, in an age where more and more faith communities have become commuter-based - there is a group of Christians who are questioning the value of mobility and its impact not only on ecological and on social relationships 鈥� but also on with witness of our faith communities and the vitality of our spiritual lives.
Today, many Christian denominations are opting to close local or neighbourhood churches and form 鈥榥iche鈥� or 鈥榟ub鈥� churches - or even 鈥榲irtual鈥� churches; most often based on the consumer taste of the worshipper, and most often predicated on a need to leave one鈥檚 neighbourhood (often passing by many other places of worship to get to them).听听Still, there are more and more voices which are asking us to consider staying put and start paying attention to that which is just outside our window.听听
Staying put:听The more I think about it - it makes social, ecological 鈥� and, yes, even spiritual sense.
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove鈥檚 book听听(Paraclete Press, 2010) is a short and sweet book worth checking out if you鈥檙e interested in beginning to explore some of these ideas.听Wilson-Hartgrove draws on sources ranging from the ancient monastics through to the contemporary Christian poet-critic-farmer Wendell Berry to expound on the wisdom of rooting one鈥檚 self or one鈥檚 family in a place.
He argues that the ancient monastic wisdom of stability 鈥� a 1700-year-old Christian tradition - has a prophetic voice that needs to be heard in today鈥檚 North American culture 鈥� and that there鈥檚 an increasing discontent amongst those who鈥檝e tasted mobility but in doing so have lost any sense of 鈥榟ome鈥� or 鈥榩lace鈥�.听
To root ourselves in place gives us the ability to speak to ecological, political and social concerns of that place with far more credibility.听听To root ourselves in place demands that we do the tough and rewarding work of knowing our neighbours, of living through and even reconciling conflicts, and of intertwining our lives with others.听听It also challenges us to know the spiritual 鈥榣andscape鈥� of a place 鈥� and to be able to pray-for and pray-with the people of that place 鈥� even if they don鈥檛 share our commitment to faith.
I believe our neighbourhoods could be culturally, socially and spiritually transformed if people of faith didn鈥檛 easily leave them in order to move on to the 鈥榥ext best thing鈥� - if we worshipped with those who we shopped with, grew food with, made art with, played sports with and who our kids went to school with.
I believe our city could be transformed if people of faith made a commitment to root ourselves in a place and seek stability there; if we took the time to learn about our neighbourhoods 鈥� of their history, people, geography, ecology and stories.
I believe we would witness a lot of beauty if we took the risk of deepening our local relationships.听All of that, in turn, that would radically听shape our spiritual identity as people of faith.
In a town like Victoria which is often stereotyped (perhaps unfairly) as being a place of retirees, who come here late in life, and of students, who are often only here for a few years 鈥� I believe there is a challenge for all people of faith to root in place as we seek to recover and reclaim the ancient art and wisdom of stability.
Rob Crosby-Shearer is Community Life Minister at St. Philip Anglican Church. He occasionally blogs at You can find out more about him
听
You can read more articles from Spiritually Speaking听
