Scattered Thoughts on Beauty and Blooming

I know I haven’t written in a while. Honestly, I think it's because I’m overwhelmed. There is so much breaking and beauty, tears and inspiration, that I don’t know where to begin. I’m scattered. I’ve been here for less than two months and I feel as though every day my heart either breaks or soars from another story I hear, person I meet, or program/business I hear about. This place is booming with beauty and becomings.

There’s St.Jude hospital that is literally saving children's’ lives in the most beautiful ways. There’s this mexican popsicle place that makes the most delicious handmade popsicles I’ve ever had. There’s free concerts at the Levitt Shell on the weekends. There are music videos and pop up street dances. There’s blues, jazz, hip hop, soul, rock and roll embedded in almost every cranny of this city from its legendary history to the bars on Beale street. There’s a park with bison and zip lines, and donut shops with pop up singers. There’re murals and a pyramid too. There’re dreams and community coming together in the transformation of an old Sears warehouse into the artful Crosstown Concourse. There’s spoken poetry, and libraries with escalators rising through its stories filled with books. Never have I been so exposed to so many blooming dreams.

There’s this tension between the way things are, and the belief that the way things are is not how they have to be.There’s this tension between what has become of this city, and what it can become.

Never before have I believed more in what I do, and it’s not even because I’m in a program where I’m seeing both the needs and possibilities of education in this city. No, it's more so because I am being exposed and introduced to so many fearless dreamers. People committed to more.

I started so many blog posts, but never felt like I had enough time or space to recount everything I was seeing and learning. Maybe if we grab coffee when I come home for Christmas. Maybe if we find time to skype, I can tell you some of my favorite stories. Or maybe you can come down here for yourself; see a few of the murals,visit some of the museums, listen to the rhythm of Memphis and be inspired to go on your way, back to your city and dream alongside your neighbors and friends. That’s what I plan to do with the new friends I’m making here. That’s what I plan to do in the lives of my students. To get to know them and teach them not so that they can merely learn a few things. No teach them so that they can be learners, lifelong learners, that let the knowledge they seek fuel the dreams they not only dream at night, but build in daylight. Learners that seek to learn about others, and become more because they build not by themselves, but alongside other fellow dreamers.

You may be a visionary, but dreams are never built alone. You may be a leader, but you would be nothing without the greatness to your right and left. It’s in the coming together that the great becomings are born out of.

Do you cook, paint, play music, play a sport, sell houses, build things, design things? Are you gifted with hospitality, encouragement, patience, vision. Are you a behind the scenes person, a planner, architect, or cheerleader? Are you a doer, a listener, a helping hand? There’s something of immense value in every person, and the most beautiful things are done in the coming together of many. It’s in the details of what each person adds, guides, sees, and makes happen that unfold into the most intricate masterpieces. It is the diversity of our minds, talents, hopes and dreams that grow into the most breathtaking gardens. Cities can become some of the most inspiring places if the people in them are coming together and seeing each other,not just passing by. Be inspired by the beauty you see in others, even in broken places. And then bloom alongside them. Let your life be part of a bouquet.

Crosstown Concourse (click to watch!)

Moving to Memphis

This past Tuesday I dropped the only person I knew in Memphis, off at the airport, and returned to my new home, where my phone immediately broke. Talk about feeling stranded! But it opened up the way for me to really start seeing Memphis. I had to talk to people and ask for directions to places like the library (which is gorgeous!) so I could get WiFi and look up a Verizon store. It sounds silly, but if I had my phone I wouldn’t have needed them. And do you know how many beautiful moments we miss when we don’t actually need others or see people? I’ve gotten to talk to so many beautiful people these past few days, with my out-of-state accent, and it has been such a joy.

Since I only took what I could fit in my old 1996 Camry I’ve been doing some garage sale-ing , and assorted thrifting as I try to get furniture for my belongings. While out with my roommate at a garage sale we met this beautiful old woman named Dot. Our small talk soon led us to bigger matters of education in Memphis as she shared stories with us of this city. Before we knew it we were invited inside for some cold sweet tea, and we left with armfuls of gifts from her. She had learned what we came here to do, and how we had been here less than a week and that touched her so much, but I think we were touched more. Her generosity, hospitality, and just abundance of kind words and advice were the kind of priceless beauty that only God can bestow through people.

It’s so refreshing to see God in His children, and Dot was an incredible blessing to us, but I think you can see attributes of Him in all of His creation, even if they haven’t been found yet themselves. Later that day I found myself outside a pretty rundown store waiting for the owner so I could get a dresser. I’m not sure yet how southern time works, but this particular store owner ran on his own time for sure. As I waited outside I tried to not let myself be in a rush and to practice patience. I tried to look at people and buildings and really just soak in this city as I waited. Before I knew it, a few friendly homeless men stopped and talked to me at different times. I got to hear bits of their stories and share in a few laughs. It began to rain and a friendly stranger offered me his umbrella. I will admit, there were pieces of fear in me. I’ve been wisely taught to be cautious around strangers, especially in run down sections of the city. But there is also this gorgeous beauty you see when you don’t always fear what you don’t know. There’s something beautiful about sharing laughter with a toothless stranger on the sidewalk. There’s something endearing about a person stopping in the rain to offer you their umbrella because you looked at them as they went by instead of turning away.

I am confident that God is going to do incredible things through this program I am in down here. And I know there will be many a blogpost where I share about those moments. But I hope there will be just as many posts, like this, where I share of how I met Him, down here in Memphis, in the kindness, or generosity, or joy, of some stranger, or new acquaintance. For He is everywhere. In people, places, and moments, and I don’t want to miss any of it.

So as I continue on in my adventures in Memphis, this is the prayer I keep going back to.

“Give me a quiet heart, and help me to hear the still, small voice that speaks within me. It calls me to come closer to You and to grow in Your likeness. It teaches me to do my work faithfully, even when no one’s eye is upon me, so that I may come to the end of each day feeling that I used its gifts wisely and faced its trials bravely. It counsels me to judge others less harshly and to love more freely. It persuades me to see the divinity in everyone I meet.”