Our life is therefore responsive and responsible
The joys, the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these too are the joys and hopes, the grief and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts.
Gaudium et Spes, Vatican II
‘The human person deserves to be preserved; human society deserves to be renewed’. In the ‘space’ made for us by God a relational world evolves. Our life is therefore responsive and responsible. ‘I cannot be me without you and we cannot be us without them and together we have a future’.
Think about yourself in relationship.
What is the disposition you bring to others?
Is it one of openness and expectation or fear and anxiety?
‘Dispositions are the means of acquiring reality’ (Freidrich von Hugel)
The images in this post are of a community project to enhance a neighbourhood with beautiful and joyful murals.
Clearly our neighborhood needed a dose of love and attention. The effects of blight were all around and many people in our vicinity looked sad and hung their heads as they walked the streets. We looked around and saw nothing but drab and gray with buildings, streets and sidewalks wearing years of neglect. Walls scratched, tagged and marked were sad reminders of abandonment.
Back in my gray neighborhood we decided to invite friends, artists and a few neighbors inside to talk about any ideas that could help us bring a little positive change. We needed to find a good excuse to get the other locals from diverse backgrounds out of their shuttered houses and apartments to meet and connect to each other. After long hours and many days, the memories of colorful Mexico came flowing back and the concept of making community murals here was born.
Source: How Rafael Lopez brought a community together.
For a printable PDF of the text of this meditation please click on the link below.
