Try this: put your trash bins out on the wrong day, and see how many of your neighbors follow suit. You will be amazed.\u00a0 People are looking for leadership and direction all the time, and they don\u2019t even have to know you well (or at all) to try what you are doing. The simple presence of your bins out on the curb suggests that, perhaps tomorrow is trash day after all. Rather than trusting their own experience, or the neighborhood newsletter, many will simply put theirs out just in case.\u00a0 They will believe that perhaps your way is better; perhaps you know something they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Well.\u00a0 That\u2019s an amazing power that you have right there.\u00a0 What else might you \u201cjust try,\u201d to see if your neighbors will do it too?\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen the same effect with Christmas decorations, or, more recently, the Halloween variety.\u00a0 One house goes all festive, and the one next door needs to match, or go one better. This is where trends emerge. At least, in neighborhoods with a gracious HOA.\u00a0 Landscaping.\u00a0 Yard sales. Political signs.\u00a0 (although, these days, putting a political sign in your yard is just marking yourself as a paintball target). The selling of girl scout\u00a0cookies or boy scout popcorn.\u00a0All these things demand a response from the neighbors, maybe even a sense of competition.\u00a0 The pattern\u2019s begun. And all you did was forget what day the trash comes.<\/p>\n
Can these patterns of call and response build community? A modern-day, real-life litany of connectedness? I think so. But you can make your neighbor put out their trash early without even knowing them. What sorts of change might you effect in your midst if people really know you? If people feel connected with you from a shared experience, a recent conversation, or a common interest they know you share?\u00a0 What if they\u00a0look to you for wisdom, not just because you are there, but because you\u2019ve got something they are looking for?<\/p>\n
Your neighbors are seeking. They are looking for leadership, wisdom, relationship, something holy that they forgot to ask for. If you are a person of faith, then you have the power to answer the seeking soul next door. If you have made yourself a living light, opened your door, and welcomed the stranger, the next question for you might not be \u201cnow, when is trash day again?\u201d It might just be, \u201cwhat do you believe, and whom do you follow, that makes you seem so peaceful, joyful, and loving?\u201d\u00a0 And you can answer, \u201cI\u2019ve got good news for you.\u00a0 And, Wednesday.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Can these patterns of call and response build community? A modern-day, real-life litany of connectedness? <\/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":[12,34,35,36,30,31,37,14,10,38,16],"class_list":["post-1829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-desert-life","category-faith-and-community","category-uncategorized","tag-community","tag-discipleship","tag-evangelism","tag-joy","tag-neighbor","tag-neighborhood","tag-peac","tag-phoenix","tag-spirituality","tag-trend","tag-west"],"yoast_head":"\n