proudly atop the roofs of automobiles and the heads of young Hispanic women. What looked like a Hasidic Jewish picnic in Central park, amidst the families and lovers trying to find small pieces of Eden in the midst of concrete and high rise buildings. And the rowdy mob of young men who have found ritual and religion in the bleachers of Yankee stadium; proclaiming solidarity with the poor in the face of the oppressive wealthy box seat holders, and celebrating a secular form of vicarious atonement with chants of "Derek Jeter" and "Hip Hip Jorge!"But what impacted me the most were the improvised signs of life and beauty in places that seemed desolate and barren. The graffiti on bridges and empty storefronts depicting pictures full of color and hope. The mariachi band singing in the middle of a subway train to people trying hard not to notice each other. The young African American men dancing in the midst of Time's Square station. Most strikingly...the different groups of people from all walks of life, from every culture and nation, living together. While New York is far from a utopia (I witnessed plenty of brokenness ...), my time in the big city helped me better understand why John uses the imagery of a city, the new Jerusalem, in talking about the "new heavens and the new earth."
"I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ' Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself with be with them and be their God'" (Revelation 21:2-3)
What I experienced during my time in New York, to borrow from the Eastern Orthodox, were icons; snapshots of city life that point beyond themselves to something much greater. To life as it was meant to be...and to a life that one day will be once again.
