Prayer #137: Community Unscripted

This week's reflection is coming to you live from Austin, Texas, where I'm running around like a madwoman with work folks for both our Austin Unscripted campaign and the upcoming National Preservation Conference.

Here's a taste of what I'm working on (and eating) ...



Overall, Austin Unscripted has been a fantastic way to explore a new city and hear countless stories about community, tradition, progress, and the tensions/balances that reside therein. I'll post more on the project when it's complete, but for now, I give you a prayer gleaned from the thoughts and experiences of these whirlwind days.

Prayer #137: Community Unscripted

Lord, hear my prayer for place ...

That planners and policy makers engineering physical growth design roadmaps not just for highways, but for the next generation.

That businesses powering local economies watch the sidewalk scenes outside their storefronts to remember their context.

That neighborhoods linking residents recall their own histories and embrace how it can inform their futures.

That property lines drawn on old hurts and long memories, railroad tracks and overpasses, language or income, are redrawn through thoughtful reconciliation.

That citizens driving daily life see their communities as extensions of themselves and treat them accordingly.

That people spilling over with stories of home find willing ears to hear them and active minds to consider them.

And that You guard all places -- real, intended, or desired -- where people strive to live in You.

Amen.