Real People

I love that I can go to a Bible study in my new home of NYC and a)be outnumbered by guys, b)when asked the question, "What's your favorite type of music?" hear answers ranging from electronica to Cuban Jazz to Brazilian to Stevie Wonder to oldies and c)be asked if anyone wants to grab a beer afterward. Yes indeed....New York is everything I had hoped for and more.

I don't know if anyone would describe New York City as a "breath of fresh air" in the real sense of the term, but that's exactly what it has been for me these first 3 and a half weeks. My faith feels more alive than it has been for about 2 years. I find myself praying out loud as I walk to the subway, feeling a deep sorrow everytime I come across a homeless person trying to keep warm for the night, and being eager to share my beliefs with people because it is such a strange message to their ears. I guess to sum up the experience, my sense of purpose is so much stronger here. As humans we want to be different and know that we actually have something to offer society. But that longing is severely handicapped in an environment where everyone is the same (or tries to be anyways) and something as simple as a nose piercing is synonymous with non-conformity.

In this city I have encountered what I've been starving for...real people. People who aren't afraid to cuss you out on the street or ask a complete stranger about politics or break dance on the subway or freely admit in a Bible study that 90% of the time they are thinking of anything but their relationship with God. And it is in that messiness of reality where God's face become that much more vivid.