You had a dream, didn\u2019t you?<\/p>\n
Blame it on Clint Eastwood, Zane Grey, or Miss Kitty.\u00a0 You had a dream about the wild, wild, west.\u00a0Now here you are, living in Phoenix, your shoes melting to the pavement as we speak, and no way to get the ice cream home before it melts.\u00a0 Furthermore, you are surrounded on every side by Targets (and not the shooting kind), Starbucks and strip malls. Not\u00a0cowboy in sight.\u00a0Nor a cow, for that matter.<\/p>\n
What was it all about, anyway, that westward moving dream you had?\u00a0That we all have?\u00a0 The frontier movement of the past drew people of faith\u2013that is, faith in the unknown. Hope that something \u201cout there\u201d\u00a0was better and more life-giving than the way they\u2019d always done things. There was promise out here in fertile land, ample sunshine and unexplored territory. \u201cOut West\u201d\u00a0became synonomous with adventure, freedom, the good life, and the thrill of wide, open spaces. (OK, so maybe for my generation, the Dixie Chicks fed the dream more than Miss Kitty.)<\/p>\n
But\u00a0at the heart of all wild west dreaming,\u00a0something else started to breathe. Something else led pioneers and outlaws this far, and draws us still today. In\u00a0a word, we\u2019re after true community. Those who settled the western territories didn\u2019t just want to surround themselves with stunning and unspoiled landscape. They weren\u2019t just seeking emptiness in which to store all their stuff. At the core of all that freedom and adventure was, and is, a deeper desire to live among people of like mind. To surround onesself not only with the beauty of the natural world and the prospect of new life in it, but to live among people who share\u00a0the dream, and\u00a0can help realize it.<\/p>\n
This may not be how the west was won, but its certainly how the west was popluated. And maybe you moved here for a job, or to be near family, or because you watched too much Gunsmoke<\/em> as a child (if there\u2019s any such-a thing as too much Gunsmoke).\u00a0\u00a0 Whatever your story though, the western dream is just not complete without neighbors. Unless the people around you are trying to\u00a0ride the dream too, you\u2019re just holding a saddle.<\/p>\n Now, I\u2019m just guessing here, but I\u2019ll bet your back yard is surrounded by four cinderblock walls.\u00a0 We\u2019ve taken the largest city at the heart of this west-reaching vision, and fenced it in on every side. Mr. Grey would not be pleased.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve never thought about what this configuration does to our sense of community and connectedness, take a moment to consider. Are you unable to name the occupants of houses you can see from your driveway?\u00a0Do you spend more time online and on-phone than in real conversation?\u00a0Do you complete transactions without making eye contact or speaking to the check-out person, or the people in line with you?\u00a0<\/p>\n Its not an accusation. Really, its a question.\u00a0Is this the life for which you came west?\u00a0Or, if you\u2019ve been here forever, what is your westward dream?\u00a0What\u2019s calling you to live more purposefully and joyfully?\u00a0What\u2019s meeting your need for freedom, adventure, and human connection?<\/p>\n Follow this spot for the \u201cWho Is Your Neighbor\u201d\u00a0project of Foothills Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). We live in this desert too, but we don\u2019t believe it is\u00a0wilderness. There is life, hope, and purpose to be found in our neighborhood, and in yours.\u00a0 Say hello to that person across the fence. Keep the dream moving westward and wild.\u00a0 We\u2019re all fenced in here together.\u00a0 And wherever you live, we want to know\u2026who is your neighbor?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Blame it on Clint Eastwood, Zane Grey, or Miss Kitty. You had a dream about the wild, wild, west. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1154,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5,1],"tags":[11,12,14,10,15,16,17],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-desert-life","category-faith-and-community","category-uncategorized","tag-christianity","tag-community","tag-phoenix","tag-spirituality","tag-urban-sprawl","tag-west","tag-wild-west"],"yoast_head":"\n