Taking Christianity to the Streets

We all have walls. I live in an area that's just spacious enough that I see my neighbors sporadically, rarely even. I don't really know most people who live on my street. Except for the ones with kids, which aren't many, and I don't even know all of those.

We stay inside and see each other in passing. Extended conversations during power failures, and when fire trucks or ambulances stop on our street. And the only time we ring our neighbor's doorbells are on Halloween. The rest of the time, we hide behind our walls.

One of the things I find interesting about Occupy Wall Street is that people are taking to the streets and not hiding behind walls anymore. That includes faith communities. A loosely organized group of pastors calling themselves The Protest Chaplains have emerged from the Occupy movement. It is inspiring to see.

On Sundays, they hold interfaith services in Zuccotti Park. (Yesterday, The Council of Elders from the Civil Rights movement spoke. I wished I could have been there! I hope to find footage to watch.)

After the protestors were kicked out of the park last Tuesday, many churches in the area opened their doors to occupiers, showing genuine Christian hospitality. It makes me happy to see Christians openly acting like Christians should.

One thing I hope comes out of Occupy Wall Street is that we tear all our walls down.