When I first saw this picture I thought nothing of it. I said, “well, that is New Orleans.” But usually when you look at a piece of art you think nothing of it until you stop and think about it for a while. Staring at it for a couple minutes also helps. I submit to you now that this is a piece of art.
Off in the distance, in the way back, the way way back, you see this bridge, tall and illustrious, leading to who knows where and you see power lines going somewhere and coming from somewhere.
At first, I see houses, many houses with roofs. Some of the houses look pretty decent while one, that white one right in the center of the picture, looks beat up, abandoned, and in need of help. The paint is chipping and some of the windows look broken.
A little closer now the houses look pretty well maintained. The siding looks good, the roof isn’t faded and the window has a screen over it to keep out bugs.
But then there is this awkward looking green and yellow hump on the top of the roof. After you look at it awhile you see that it is a bunch of yellow flowers blooming, showing off their beauty to earth and sky.
And then focusing on the picture as a whole you see beauty, brokenness, and a bridge all within the same picture. A picture worth a thousand words. And now I find myself interpreting what this means. Why is the bridge so far away? Why is beauty and brokenness so close together? What is the story behind the brokenness and the beauty, or, what is the story behind the story?
I find this picture intriguing because it offers a simplified version of life in a community.
Yes, this is a common sight in the city of New Orleans. Abandoned houses next to perfectly livable houses. It was a hurricane that caused the separation between the beauty and the broken. Some people got through their brokenness, while others are still in it. As the abandoned houses get more broken, the livable houses keep going. God showed me what community was while I was down in New Orleans.
But what about the bridge? What does that mean? When you go over a large bridge you are usually exiting or entering a city. A city is a busy place usually. Life can be busy sometimes too. Do you ever have that moment where you think, “I just want to get out of here, away from it all. I just want a new surrounding, a place away from the busyness.” If you have; you might be looking for a bridge to cross, to get away from it all.
The bridge is something deeper than that though. The bridge is an escape towards a perfect place. I have to remind myself that this is earth, and earth is broken, and earthly things break, like houses. I look forward towards heaven, where nothing will be broken, everything will be beautiful and we get to worship that beauty. That’s how I view the bridge. A reminder that heaven is coming.
The church we partnered with in New Orleans, Castle Rock Community Church, is intentional at being a community of people. They recognize the brokenness, and show them beauty. They recognize the area around them and notice a need, and do their best to make things beautiful. God makes beautiful things. I mean, look at those flowers.
It was in New Orleans where I realized that this picture isn’t just specific to New Orleans but it can also be applied to any community. There is a need wherever you go. You can find places that have beauty and brokenness right across the street.
The community down there realizes the beauty in the brokenness and stemming from that realization they put themselves out there to make a community. A park that was notorious for drugs deal and shootings is now a safe place for kids to play and ride their bikes.
God also revealed to me that I have to recognize the brokenness in my own life and in order to eliminate that brokenness I have to eliminate the “do not disturb” sign I wear around my next, eliminate my pride, and reveal to the community my hurts and struggles. C.S. Lewis describes pride as the Great Sin. Pride is at the core of selfishness. I am a selfish person.
Jesus was the one that did life with the broken. Mark 2:17 Jesus says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Jesus goes to the broken and makes them beautiful. There is this rapper named Kanye West, and there is a line in one of his songs that I find absolutely beautiful. It goes, “To the hustlers, killers, murderers, drug dealers, even the strippers, Jesus walks with them” Think of the story of the Good Samaritan and the beauty of healing the broken.
Last, but not least. God revealed to me spiritual joy. I find myself smiling at random times during the day thinking about something that happened in New Orleans. I left Bethel with 9 people and came back with a community. We now tweet each other inside jokes, except three of you, who refuse to join the Twitter nation. Hashtag get at me.
New Orleans is a beautiful place filled with beautiful people. That house in the middle of the picture is a beautiful place because it is broken. That brokenness represents vulnerability, openness, and an opportunity. Our life is this picture.
And there it is; New Orleans in exactly one thousand words. Thank You.
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