Read this first:
Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise,
in the city of our God, his holy mountain.
I love my city. I have a friend, Sean, who coined the phrase “love your city” he told me it was his way of saying, “What would Jesus do?” At first I didn’t understand what he was saying. Then I realized he was saying ss Jesus told us to: love your neighbor. Love your city is the same idea.
What do I love about Portland? Why I am so glad I asked myself this non-rhetorical question.
I love Portland’s weirdness, the food, the creativity, the craftsman homes, the river, the Timbers and the timber army, the roses, the Blazers, the people, the fact that it’s mostly clean, the beer, the whiskey, the Juanita’s chips, the hipsters, the distinctive downtown area, the skyline, the mix of upper class and lower class, the classy mother’s bistro in the same block as Dantes dive bar, voodoo donuts, and a homeless shelter. That’s just one little part of downtown. The speakeasys, the hidden gems, the salt and straw, pok pok wings, the libraries, the running routes around the river and multiple bridges, the tall bikes, the unicycles, Mt Hood and Mt St Helens peaking through and the proximity to the gorge and the beach and the Lutheran Community I grew up with here.
How has God built up my city? He’s added greater food, given it a place on the national map because of a silly tv show, made sure as far as I know that no one has falled off the absurdly high marquam bridge with the unnecessary merge in the middle, kept us from harm and danger, didn’t let us get destroyed norm harm from earthquakes nor the mt st helens explosion, he’s kept us from killing anyone in the riots recently, kept our covid deaths minimal, and given us rain for crops, flowers, and trees, he made the gorge come back from fire and kept the fire issues to a minimum.
Obviously we are to love God first but loving your city, loving your neighborhood goes with it.
This Psalm talks all about God defending the city and building it up and yes we could see this as referring to the temple and to the future Zion of heaven, but God is building up your city with you as part of your sanctification so I can say that’s true.
How do you love your city? Yesterday I spent it going around to college grads to drop off gifts- I’ll do more of that today. Hopefully I will get to mow the lawn and brighten a couple kids days too. Maybe it’s your work that will help you love your city. Maybe it’s your blog. But love well!
Marking It Up 