community | commited to transformation

It is so beautiful to be a part of a community. Who would have thought when I moved here years ago that I would eventually settle here, develop a family here, and join the community that already existed, much less aid in the process of building another one based on God's love? I just walked up to B-Tech today, checking out the campus in preparation for my return in the fall. Man, I miss that place. When I first went there, it was largely because of the students, wanting to work with them in particular. Now, I'm glad to be going back because of the staff. Our relationships have grown and deepened over these past few years and I'm truly excited about reintegrating myself into the family. Even though just about all the students are ones I don't really know, it'll be great to still have some connection to their families, older siblings, and of course, their teachers.

The overlap that I feel between: our church, our family, the school, BOCA, just all of them together, is so inspiring. I mean, what if every city in America had a network of folks working together to ensure the progress of those with their backs against the wall? What if every urban place you visit had, in spite of its incidences of violence and sub-par educational experiences for youth of color, what if those places had community? A family web that kept folks accountable to one another, that forced them to ask the question, "What am I doing with my life? What am I doing to myself? What am I doing for my family?". What if we were indeed the ones?

I'm confident that the "in spite of" would turn surely turn into "instead of". That the community would trump the forces working against them. That's what we're looking for here in Berkeley. That folks' quality of life will increase, that the statistics that predict their (our) demise would cease to intimidate. And that hope would be restored. In fact, hope is already restored; it is here through the presence of the faithful few who are committed to seeing what others do not (and perhaps cannot). Because of our confidence in the One who is greater than we are, we are able to press on and run this race with vigor. We know that it is merely our endurance that matters most, considering that the race is not given to the swift, nor the strong, but to the one who endures (Solomon, in Eccl. 9.11).

Whether we have the qualifications that traditionally correlate with victory (talents, skills, education, strength), we can rest assured that what ensures our victory is staying in the race, not quitting, not relying on our own apparent strength. These are the best that we can do. Beyond our best exists only God. He will step in, fill every void, complete every missing link, and make every crooked place straight. He is the reason we hope in the unseen.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11.1)