Rediscovering the Beauty of Local Living: Embracing Your Community

Living Where You Are: Rediscovering the Beauty of Local Living

Once upon a time, in a world without cars and screens, people had no choice but to live where they lived. Their homes and communities were their entire world, and they knew their neighbors by name. Entertainment was a family or community affair, and they were intimately familiar with the land they lived on. Life was simpler, and people were more connected to their local surroundings.

But today, things have changed. With the advent of technology and the rise of the digital age, we now have the ability to connect with people and places all over the world. We can browse the internet, read news from faraway lands, and interact with strangers on social media. Our world has expanded, and we have become global citizens.

While this connectedness has its benefits, it has also come at a cost. We have become strangers in our own homes, more aware of what is happening in the world at large than in our own communities. We spend more time engaging with people online than with our neighbors next door. Our attention is constantly divided, and we find ourselves living nowhere well.

This phenomenon, which I like to call "multiplacing," is similar to multitasking. Just as we cannot effectively focus on multiple tasks at once, we cannot truly live in two places at the same time. Time and attention are limited resources, and the more we spend on faraway friends and global news, the less we have for our local relationships and community.

In the beginning, God created us to live in specific places and among specific people. He determined the boundaries of our dwelling places, and he holds our lot. We are not meant to be constantly seeking and longing for what is happening in distant lands, but to embrace and invest in the place where we are.

The Apostle Paul understood this truth and encouraged the Philippian Christians to live fully in their local community while also being in Christ. He greeted them as "saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi," acknowledging their dual identity as citizens of heaven and residents of a specific city. Their faith in Christ was meant to shape and animate their physical lives in Philippi, making them more attentive to their neighbors, more aware of their city's needs, and more alive to the pleasures and joys of their local context.

Living where we are is not just a matter of necessity, but also of mission. As redeemed humans, we are called to live out our faith in the specific places where God has placed us. We are to be loyal to our communities, like children who love their parents not because they are perfect, but because they are theirs. We are to be attentive to the wonders of our local surroundings, like poets who find beauty in the mundane.

In the digital age, it is easy to become disconnected from our local communities and become consumed by the endless stream of information and entertainment available to us online. But if we want to truly live where we are, we need to cultivate a sense of loyalty and attentiveness to the people and places around us. We need to see the marvels and wonders that exist right in our own backyard.

The psalmist understood this truth long before the age of cars and screens. He marveled at the manifold works of God in his local surroundings, from the clouds in the sky to the dirt beneath his feet. He understood that true wonder and beauty were not found in faraway places, but in the everyday miracles of creation that surrounded him.

Living where we are makes the world big again. It opens our eyes to the wonders and joys of our homes, neighborhoods, and churches. It reminds us that the most important and meaningful moments happen not on screens, but in the lives of the ordinary people around us. It frees us to explore the galaxy of glories found in our local context, where God's creation declares his glory and immortal souls live, walk, laugh, and weep.

So let us live where we are, not because home is the most remarkable place on earth, but because God has placed us there. Let us embrace our local communities and invest in the lives of our neighbors. Let us be loyal like children and attentive like poets, discovering the beauty and wonder that exists right in our own backyard.

In conclusion, living where we are is not just a matter of necessity, but of mission. It is a call to be present and engaged in our local communities, to invest in the lives of our neighbors, and to discover the beauty and wonder that exists right in our own backyard. In a world that is increasingly connected but also disconnected, let us choose to live where we are and rediscover the joy and significance of local living.