Practice
Practices that encourage knowing and loving your neighbors and neighborhood.
Holiday Brunch
It was a bright and chilly Sunday morning in December when my daughter and I waited silently with coffee and mimosas ready on the kitchen counter. We were uncertain if anyone would walk through our door for the first Holly Street Holiday Brunch.
Civility
“What practice do people need to love their neighbors and neighborhoods during an election?” I asked former Englewood Mayor and City Council member Linda Olson. She replied clearly and concisely, “Civility.” The following principles about the practice of civility are excerpts from a work by Linda for the Colorado Municipal League. She generously shared her wisdom about what is needed to cultivate civility.
Halloween Hospitality
“Halloween is a boo-tiful day to get to know your neighbors.” says Kristin Schell, founder of The Turquoise Table. There is no other day of the year when more neighbors knock on each other’s door. Halloween is a unique opportunity to show hospitality to your neighbors and neighborhood.
Meal Trains
Providing meals is a nourishing way to love your neighbors. It may be for a family welcoming home a new child or welcoming a new neighbor to the neighborhood.
Pausing
Pausing is an invitation to interact with our lives, our neighbors and neighborhoods, with intention. It is a practice to be present to the sacredness of the people and place around us.
Lending Tools
The text message from my neighbor came the weekend after he and his family moved out. “Can I borrow your mower tomorrow? If not. That’s ok.” He needed to mow his yard before the new family moved in and had already moved all the tools from his garage. “Absolutely. I’ll have the battery charged.” I replied. It was a punctuation mark on two years of lending tools to each other while he lived on our street.
Pancake Breakfast
Hundreds of pancakes are served at the Gilley house every other Tuesday morning before students leave for Arapahoe High School. It began for Jill Gilley with a simple question, “What if?”
Support Local Artists
As I was growing up, the smell of turpentine and the whir of a sewing machine filled my senses. My mom was an artist and my husband David’s mom was a musician. His home was alive with the beautiful sound of Bach flowing from his mother’s piano. Being raised in creative homes, we learned the value of both artist and art.
Giving Flowers
Giving flowers is a way to show kindness to your neighbors in your building or on your block, at a nearby retirement center, elementary school, or food bank. It is a practice of sharing beauty and spreading joy.
Public Transportation
Public transportation provides a practical way to know your neighbors and neighborhood. It is a different method of moving around the city. For many it is essential as it eliminates the cost of owning and operating an automobile.
Ice Cream Social
Ice cream is an almost guaranteed way to gather people. There’s a magical connection when people come together to enjoy the endless variations of frozen cream, milk, and sugar. An ice cream social is a sweet, and simple, way to spend time with your neighbors
Playing in the Street
Sitting in the backyard as a new mom while my first daughter played, I found to be a very isolating experience. But when I took the kiddie pool or the slide to the front yard, the chance of interacting with other adults rose exponentially.
Wandering
Wandering is a counter script to the often overly scheduled lives centered around efficiency and productivity. Wandering is a practice that cultivates curiosity, looking to be interrupted by the world around you. When we are willing to wander, we have the possibility of being present to what is around us.
Planting Gardens
The practice of planting a garden is an embodied way to engage both the people and place where you live. It is a practice of forgiveness and gratitude. It is an invitation to be present and patient. It is an opportunity to slowly walk and see what is growing.
Honoring The Legacy
By walking hand in hand with the past, may we all journey forward together, writing new chapters into the richness of our shared history.
Extreme Community Makeover
The ECM model is “adopt-a-block.” Volunteers knock on doors ahead of work days to connect with neighbors. They ask about any external home improvement projects that could be done by volunteers.
Eastertide Happy Hour
Eastertide is 40 days (50 when combined with Ascensiontide) in the liturgical calendar. It is a season for Christians to contemplate, celebrate, and explore the implications of the resurrection from the dead of Jesus of Nazareth.
Standing in the Awkward
Standing in the awkward is the practice that tells our neighbors they are worth our discomfort. On the other side, we may get more comfortable, or at least get more comfortable with being uncomfortable.
High School Musicals
A creative practice to love your neighbors and neighborhood is to attend a local high school musical. Supporting the arts at your local high school is an opportunity to connect with your community and communicate you care about what for many students is their annual highlight.
Creating Space
Creating space prioritizes hearing and responding to what God is doing in and around us. It is an intentional way to open ourselves to receive the extravagant love of God, and then extend that love to our neighbors and neighborhoods.
