Why the hell do I live in Philadelphia?

January 09 07 Geoff Bradford 20 comments

The Holidays brings it up again. A bad day where I feel unproductive and ineffective brings it but again. That question: why do I live here?

I vacillate between anti-suburban snobbery and being tired of Philadelphia. I enjoy not living in strip-mall-ville somewhere on a cul-de-sac, but then again, Filthadelphia is not a very pretty place. I grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I love backpacking and scenery that is not man-made. There’s nothing really keeping us here—our extended families are 12+ hours away by car. Also, Philadelphia does not always seem like a “great place to raise a family.” I remember when we moved from the ‘burbs a few years ago—just at the time when my eldest son was starting kindergarten. People thought we were nuts. We were moving the wrong way. Everyone moves out when your kid turns 5, not in.

When I’m having a bad day, I generally like to visualize myself living in West Virginia.

You probably have someplace—likely not West Virginia, but some place nonetheless—that you like to believe would be better. Actually, what most of us really want is a place that is not just better, but a place where I am better, where I am more actualized and fulfilled. Not just a new scene, but a better me.

Isn’t that why we move around so much?

Looking for a better scene, I mean a better me? Every year, a sizeable chunk of the American population moves (see Restless Nation, by James Jasper). Why? Do we really think that we will be different just because the backdrop is different?

So, why stay?

Anti-suburban snobbery is not a very good reason—at least it does not satisfy my wanderlust. Laziness, either—the idea of moving makes me tired—but that is also not a good reason to stay. Susan and I have wrestled a long time with this issue. With family far away, the challenge of finding good schools in Philadelphia, and the cost of living—we have wrestled with this. Why stay?

Here’s what I have come up with:

  1. Other backdrops don’t make a better me. I’m staying because I don’t believe the myth of a better me in a better scene. I’m looking for a deeper work of God in my life than cosmetic changes. And this has been a place where God is dealing with my discontent heart. It has been a laboratory for my soul, and this community at liberti is a safe place to be a broken person who needs the mercy and love of Jesus.
  2. Philadelphia is not such a bad place for kids. Yes, it is not really clean. Yep, not the safest place, either. But suburbia is also a dangerous place to raise children, for other reasons. My kids have exposure to the great cultural offerings of the city, are growing up in a place where they have to learn to deal with people very different from them, and have a lot of spiritual “aunts and uncles.” Not bad.
  3. I want my life to count for something. I’m staying because I don’t just want to be a consumer of lifestyles. I don’t just want to shop for the best deal for my family. I choose to believe that by staying in one place, by putting down roots, by trying to build long-term relationships, my life and those of our family might have an influence—be it ever so small—on other lives and even on the great city of Philadelphia.
  4. As C.S. Lewis says, “If I had to give a piece of advice to a young man about a place to live, I think I should say, ‘Sacrifice almost everything to live where you can be near your friends.’ I know I am very fortunate in that respect.” [The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves]. We Americans re-arrange our lives around work. Isn’t friendship/community more valuable in the long run?
  5. I recognize that the ability to “choose my own adventure” is actually a sign of my richness—the fact that I even have the opportunity to choose my own adventure shows that I have options, that I am rich. Most people don’t have such possibilities. Staying here is an identification with the poor. It is an admission of my spiritual poverty—that I really am here because God has brought us here to Philadelphia, and he will make it abundantly clear when and if we need to leave. But not ‘til then.

Finally, I am trying to live as if America were not my dream.

As if this world were not my home. I’m trying hard to “look for a city whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10, 16). The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city. And it will be a city beyond “our ability to ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). That’s my real home. This is just a taste. And with that, I can live and stay—even when things don’t work like they should. Even when life here is unsatisfying and even frustrating. Jesus promises it (John 14:2).

What about you?

January 12 07 Susan Bertolino wrote:

This is by far the densest post you have written about a spiritual walk. I want to do it justice.

The truth is that I have no idea why I’m in Philly other than it may have been the only place that I could be broken enough to return to God. Even my son will say: Why are we here? We’ve had so many problems and have felt such despair—all of us—since we moved here, but that is not to say that good things haven’t happened as well.

I’m thinking of your five points which almost coincide with Aquinias 5 points of proving God’s existence. 1. Environment changes little—I lived other places and so has my husband; we always take our garbage with us. Moving cannot be based on improving us, but perhaps it can enhance our circumstances. Yet, like you I feel God is working deep changes in me here and I see it in my husband as well. It’s hard to say who was the tougher nut to crack: he was a believer when I was not, but he did not rely on God. I was angry and cynical. God is addressing us here.
2. I too, dislike the falseness I encounter in many suburbs, which is one reason I raise my son here. But it is expensive. But Chicago would have been the same. I don’t know what a good place is anymore. Michael needs more spiritual aunts and uncles, that is true. And he has suffered living here in other ways. But he has also been blessed.
3. You want your life to count for something. What does that mean? Some people see it as career. I know you don’t and I certainly don’t either. How does a life “count” and another one does not? I am not trying to trick you, but I would like to know what that means. Roots, relationships certainly count, but angels appeared overnight to Abraham and Jacob, then they departed. Doesn’t that count? Is count the same as making a difference?
4. Community and family is definitely more important. Yet some of us have jobs which force horrible choices upon us. What do we do when we work, not for vanity, but to provide for our families and serve the people in our charge at our workplace? This is my constant prayer. Geoff, you are a busy man, but I doubt you see it as an either/or solution.
5. Instead of choosing my own adventure, I would rather choose my own peace of mind. I too recognize that I am in Philly for a reason. And I sense that it will not be forever. That is where God and not me comes in.

As for the American dream, nothing I’ve ever done has represented it. In some ways, I wish I could stop people from even pursuing that myth. I believe it eventually brings heartache, despair and alienation. But perhaps I am jaded.

I canot quote the Bible as well as you. But I think of this from John, my favorite Gospel: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give it as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

Now if only I could carve that one on my heart!!.

January 15 07 jay wrote:

Life in Jesus is walking with the King with every step. Some steps are on smooth level ground, some are on rocks and stones, sometimes we fall and get scraped up.

In all of it we are in the presense of the King. He does not say He will make everything fine He does however say He is with us. And He upholds us. He comforts us. He puts sav on us and wipes our tears away. He wraps His arms around us, He picks us up and begins to walk with us again.

What a MIRACLE!!! The Creator of the entire universe is walking with us. He graciously gives us a life to begin with. How marvelous!!!! That He would want to come so close and walk with us.

What GOOD NEWS!!!! So when in Life I am hit hard and knocked to the ground I remember Phillipians 4: 6 & 7 and that He is there.

January 16 07 Geoff Bradford wrote:

Hey everyone: Is there no one else out there who is struggling in this way? Am I just a nut case? We need to be a church where people don’t just up and leave, but we talk candidly about the choices we are making and why, and help each other work through decisions (should I stay or should I go now?) and grow in a longing for something besides comfort. Give me a response, why don’t you??

January 17 07 Biff Ackley wrote:

West Virginia?

January 18 07 Kallie Sealock wrote:

No Jeff, you are definitely not the only one thinking this. It speaks to me so much that I almost feel like I could have written it (well, except that I’m not a pastor, a man, a father of 5, or in love with West Virginia). I actually thought I commented on this a few days ago, but must have forgotten to publish my post. Maybe it was my subconscious not wanting to be accountable for committing to stay. Since I left my parents home almost 6 years ago I haven’t lived in any place for more than two years. I like the adventure of moving- the newness, the fresh start, the challenge. And I agree that a part of that comes from my inability to be satisfied in one place; which does make me wonder how much I’m truly living for God. If that were the case, I would not need a new and better place, or quite accurately stated, a new and better Kallie. And yet, I can’t help but ask myself, “Does God really want me to stay HERE?!” It’s far from my family and many of my friends. It’s loud and dirty and often unfriendly. And yet as much as I miss the West at times, I am inextricably drawn to this city in all its brokenness. I love the community of God’s people I’ve found here. Admittedly, it DOES seems crazy to me that liberti more than anything else makes me want to stay. But you’re right, my relationships do mean more than my paycheck, my boss, my work. And I’m realizing that as much as I miss those I’ve left back in CA, I will feel at least as strongly if I were to leave to spiritual family I’ve found here. No matter where I go, I will have to miss someone.

January 18 07 Nathan M wrote:

I think that a career/vocation is a perfectly good reason for living anywhere. I don’t want to be too much of a gadfly, but I kind of object to the CS Lewis quote that we should sacrifice so as to be near to friends. We should sacrifice to serve the Lord and to do the good deeds which he has prepared in advance for us to do. Is it not possible that the comfort of friendship could provide a temptation to fail to pursue the work that God has set before you?

Are we assuming here that staying in one place in somehow inherently more valuable or “meaningful” than moving from place to place throughout our lives due to the demands of an occupation? Perhaps I could be convinced of this if there was a Scriptural argument to support it, but I don’t see one forthcoming.

The real issues, as ever, are those that involve the heart. Of course people can move for bad reasons (see those outlined by Geoff above). Of course people can also put down roots and refuse to move for equally bad reasons (fear of change, love of comfort, etc).

Let’s not forget the great Protestant tradition of vocation: all occupations (not just priestly occupations) are holy if done with faith. In an economy that is global, and a society that is increasingly mobile, moving around can be a simple fact of life and a necessary part of faithfully performing the duties of a career.

As for me, I will only be in Philadelphia until my studies or a job bring me elsewhere. Choosing where to live is a largely a matter of vocation.

January 19 07 Brian Cuzzolina wrote:

Why I live in Philly.

My parents still lose sleep over my decision to live in the city. My brother still believes the longer I live here the greater my chances of being robbed, beaten or raped increase. The suburban mindset wants safety, comfort and a sense of entitlement. It is imperative to understand that the American Dream is simply that, a dream, and not a reality.

Now my parents are the poster-children of the American Dream. My father came home from school to a fatherless house and a cupboard that literally only had a slice of bread in it. He worked hard to provide for our family, and made sacrifices so that we would never have to experience the same dark path he walked. I am grateful for every sacrifice he has made, and I am still am reaping the benefits of his labor. I believe the Lord has blessed his labor, and my father gives back everything he has. Although, I believe some of the choices he has made regarding vocation, spending, housing, etc, are more of a reflection of his generation’s sense of entitlement, and political belief system than the psuedo monastic-way life of lower means, need, and simplicity that many in our own generation are seeking. I know many of us in our community can say the same of our own parents, which fuels our decisions to live in neighborhoods that are defined by violence, racism, and evident class struggles.

I moved to Philly because I needed the noise and reality that life is not a mountaintop to be climbed, but a subway we ride underneath the dirt, and urine stained sidewalks, that scream of redemption. I pray on my rooftop at nights overlooking an unjust city, and cry out for a new heaven and earth. I do not believe in the Capitalist Work Ethic, and think Weber was an objective moron. My current job is a means to an end as I continue to strive for a vocation in my passions of and writing and teaching. Philadelphia is a city rich in literary and artistic culture, and surrounded by renowned universities (and of course is more affordable than New York). At this stage in my journey this is the best location for me to grow and transform into the man God is molding me into. All of us have that passion and fire God has made us for, the gifts and talents that we bring to our vocations that make it a holy and sacred endeavor. Chances are if you are living in Philadelphia, like me, you are fueled by a different sort of passion, and drive that is not satisfied with suburban homes, new cars, and a false sense of reality.

Philadelphia is special, but it’s steel and brick landscape and rusted bridges could never replace the people that are in this city that mean so much in my life. Overall, it was a few friends that convinced me when I was broke, broken, and tired of living land-locked in the middle of everywhere to move back to the east coast, and be a member of this small community starting a church in the heart of a hurting city. That is what drives my desire to see this city transformed, I could never desire to do it alone. This has made a peripherally nasty city to me beautiful.

I honestly can still say most mornings when I walk out my door and smell the rotting Fishtown air and see my tires slashed, I’ld rather be in New Zealand making lines like a painter on my snowboard down a mountain. But, that dream is empty when we are not living where God is leading us, and doing what we have been impassioned to do. I am in Philly, because that is where God has me. He may have me in another city or country in a year or two I don’t know, but for now am here and sucking the life out of it.

“Run away, Run away, I will follow”- U2

January 22 07 Dave B wrote:

Nathan, my dear friend… Dare you disagree w/ Mr. Lewis?
You said, “I think that a career/vocation is a perfectly good reason for living anywhere.”
Maybe…

But, I think that the scriptures are laden with proof that being near friends (in other words, loving people… and God) are at the heart of the good deeds that God has prepared in advance. I know that I’m sort of opening that up… going below the surface of Lewis’ verbage, but hey… isn’t that really what he’s about?

I’ve moved all over the country – 10 different cities (Boston, New Orleans, LA… on and on) and YES, you’ll probably find friends no matter where you land, but isn’t there something to investing (deeply) in a commumity? I’m not saying forever… but to discount the value of making that investment because we do live in a globalized and mobilized society seems a non sequiter. I do agree w/ you about vocation… being holy if done w/ faith, I just think that it’s easy to follow vocational, educational, or whatever dreams with only a nod to the people that God is building us together with.

January 22 07 Denise Malagari wrote:

Why Philadelphia? Why not? Like Brian said, I’m here because God has me here. Sometimes I’m not sure why, maybe I’ll never fully know, I just have to be obedient to Him and see what He brings my way.

I’ve grown up in the suburbs and I’m tired of it. It makes me weak, the malls, strip malls, shopping plazas, super centers, etc. You can’t escape the materialism. I’ve also grown tired of how fake the people can be. People are fake everywhere, but so many of the people where I come from are so concerned with keeping up with each other they often lose sight of what’s important in life.

I also love people. So, what better place to live then in a city. There’s such a huge opportunity to minister and be ministered to I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

January 23 07 Nathan M wrote:

Thanks for the response, Dave. I know disagreeing with the good Doctor Lewis puts me on thin ice with most of protestant Christianity, but hear me out!
First, your point is well taken. I certainly don’t want to discount the need to invest in the Christian community where you live, and I may be guilty of nodding to community while focusing on educational dreams (or worse, painting my own worldly ambition with the language of “vocation”). But I think my point still stands: invest in the community wherever your vocation happens to take you. Wherever you move, you have an obligation to the Christian community there: connect, fellowship, serve, submit.
What I am objecting to is not commitment to the local congregation, but the notion that when deciding where to live, one of your primary considerations should be what people you happen to like. The primary consideration, I think, ought to be what your gifts are and where there are opportunities to use those gifts to the fullest. Following your vocation where it takes you is consistent with this. (N.B. if your vocation is pastor, worship leader, or something similar, your vocation and your commitment to a particular community of Christians will overlap.)
Contra-Lewis, I believe it is the comfort of friends that we are often called to sacrifice in carrying out the good work prepared for us. Is this restricted to the missionaries among us? Or does it not also apply to those with skills in business, journalism, government, etc?
Of course I could be wrong about this, but this theme seems fairly Biblical to me. Several examples immediately come to mind: Abraham is called to leave his homeland/family; Paul travels around the Mediterranean in the fulfillment of the good work prepared for him; Christ had nowhere to lay his head.

If I am wrong, please correct me! I am not studied in this. This is the paradigm I have been assuming: the Bible teaches us to use our gifts, pursue a vocation that glorifies God, and commit to the Christian community wherever that vocation/the exercise of those gifts happens to take you. I believe you, and Lewis, are operating with the following paradigm: we ought to commit to a specific community and sacrifice things like a career that would take us away from that community, using our gifts to the best of our ability wherever that community happens to be. If this is truly the Biblical paradigm, please point me to it!

January 23 07 Dave K wrote:

Brian noted that many of our financial and social choices as a generation are in response to or oppostion with what we saw in our parents worldviews and lifestyles. And I think that most of us would look at ourselves as a church and say that our church culture is in direct response or opposition to the church culture in which we grew up (or at least our perception of it). As with most responses which are in opposition to a previous generation, the reaction tends to be a more extreme position than we would objectively accept. In other words, our desire to establish community and create deep meaningful relationships is borne in large part out of the decadence, extreme capitalism, and lifestyle revolutions of the 80s and 90s. Perhaps not our parents, but our older siblings and our bosses and the “yuppy” neighbors we had in the suburbs represent this isolation from community and exhibit mobile career driven lifestyle most. The point is not that establishing community and deep relationships at the expense of one’s career is inherently better than following career goals (which can be both a service/act of worship for God as well as a means of caring for family, etc.). The point is that for our generation, it is a necessary counterbalance to the worldview of the generation before. Taken out of context, this idea of putting down roots and making community “at all costs” can seem isolationist, backwards, and agrarian. But we are a generation who is expected to move at the drop of a hat for their career and indoctrinated with the idea that cowboys, freedom and independence are truly the ideals of an enlightened culture. For us, a little settling down, restricting ourselves, and forming interdependence seems like a good thing.

January 25 07 Silvia Jimenez wrote:

Hi, I got here through a friend of mine who gave me this link.

I’m chilean, and I moved from my hometown two years ago, when I went to college. The thing is that here it’s not very common to leave your parent’s house to go school, specially if you live in Viña del Mar (my hometown); half of the bests school in the country are here. I moved to our capital city Santiago, because I had this great opportunity of going to one of the bests schools in Latinamerica, and also because I wated to get closer to God and trust Him wherever I was. But it has not been easy, my friends and family stayed in Viña, and even though I made good friends in Santiago, it’s been hard to still feel that I don’t belong there. The worst part is that that my old environment has changed while I was gone, and even though I go to my hometown very often, and spend the summer there, now I feel like I don’t belong here either.

So I just wanted to thank you for writing this thoughts, sometimes I forget that feeling like I don’t belong here or there it’s something that we really should feel. Because the truth is that we don’t, my true home it’s not here, it’s with God, and I can have that wherever I am. And what you say it’s true, we shouldn’t move away just the get a better view, or more space. If we move, it should be to serve the Lord where we wants to be served, and where has put us.

Well, I just wanted to let you know that. (God’s work through internet amaze me, I’m sure you never thought that a chilean girl would ever read what you wrote, and actually been touched by it). God bless.

January 25 07 Heidi Kooiman wrote:

I’ve been in Philadelphia for over 8 years and I wonder why I’m here as well. Many things have happened in the last 3 years that would indicate, yes Heidi, you should move back to Minnesota or Iowa to be with family and friends who love you. But every time I tried to move something would inevitably happen to make it impossible at that time.

Yes I think God wants me here. I am starting to believe this is the place God will lead me to where he will use me best and that has been my prayer.

I truly believe God brought liberti into my life and through strange circumstances this connection actually saved my life. God works in amazing ways. I feel so blessed God has brought me to Philadelphia and I will leave when he shows me his path elsewhere.

I want to include an element in this conversation that I don’t think has been addressed.

It is incredibly difficult for children to move! Yes some handle it better than others but whether a child is home schooled or in public school the places and people they have come to love are part of who they are, and they are helping them become who they will be.

I think adults do a disservice to children when they don’t take into account the injury they may inflict on them with moving.

I certainly am not suggesting that no one should move if they have kids and if that is what is best for their family. In my personal experience as a child and young adult, moving was torture. I don’t believe my parents thought it would negatively affect me and my siblings as much as it did.

I do hope that when any families move they take into account the effect it will have on their children. Unfortunately in our mobile/global society I don’t think adults think about this nearly enough.

January 26 07 Dave B wrote:

Nathan… I’m back.
You said, “invest in the community wherever your vocation may take you.”
I’m with you regarding investing in community, but I guess I don’t agree that vocation should hold primacy in taking us places. Yes, our gifts, talents, calling… all that stuff shapes the decisions that we make, including where we live, but I’m of the mind that there is something more “natural” or intrinsic to who God has made us to be.

In siting Abraham and Paul I think you make the point that, YES, God can and does call us away from family/friends (and he still does this all the time), but that is not really what is up for debate. The point seems to be: community is the underdog when it comes to making a decision where we are forced to choose between commitment to people and commitment to educational/vocational dreams.

Again, it’s not one or the other… there is just a major deficiency in our commitment to the things that matter most.

January 26 07 Nathan M wrote:

Dave wrote: “The point seems to be: community is the underdog when it comes to making a decision where we are forced to choose between commitment to people and commitment to educational/vocational dreams.”

With one important qualification, I agree with this statement. The important qualification is that your commitment to a spouse or children has a prominent priority in life decisions. Once you’re married, and once you have children, your commitment to those people has automatically become one of the primary good works that God has prepared for you in advance (thanks to Heidi K… for bringing up this important point regarding children).

As far as I can see, no such commitment obtains in relationship to your local congregation or to friends. There is an analogous commitment to be sure, which I am thankful to liberti for teaching so thoroughly (Steve Lutz’s memorable “we need to talk”/ “relationship defining” sermon a few months back. I am in full agreement that we should not “date” around with various churches). As far as I can see, however, the analogy between family and a particular church does not extend beyond the commitment to your local congregation wherever it is you happen to live. I don’t see Biblical teaching or precedent that you should choose where you live based on a commitment to a particular congregation (unless, of course, your vocation happens to involve that congregation: pastor, worship-leader, etc.). My citation of Abraham and Paul was simply to point out that there is precedent for my position.

Of course it is altogether possible that I am missing something obvious. I am all about criticizing culture for its warped values. The pursuit of money for its own sake, or success for personal glory definitely represents a system of values that needs to be challenged. I do want to be careful, however, only to criticize aspects of culture that are opposed to the gospel. Perhaps it is naïve to say, but I don’t see ‘putting down roots’, or ‘sacrificing to live near friends’ as distinguishing Christian values.

Thanks again for the response, Dave. It makes break time at work much more interesting!

January 26 07 Mike M wrote:

Speaking as someone who has moved from town to town, starting over every few years for employment. I would like to challenge this thought pattern. I think “Putting down roots” should carry more weight than our current generation of “up and comers” gives it.

BTW: Stepping into the liberti community basically wrecked my life. I had plans, career goals, and a timeline. (I still hold Geoff and Susan Bradford personally accountable)

About a year and a half ago I had the opportunity to “go” for a job that was in a state far away. A job that would have been very easy for me to step into. It would have been an amazing career move. I would have gotten tons of great perks, It would have meant a salary increase that possibly could have doubled my income, finding that nice house, and getting my daughter into a great school system. Yeah, it would have been nice. The problem is that we would have had to leave this community, and leave behind the relationships and start over…again. At this point in our life and our marriage, walking away from the people we we’re “doing life” with was to great a sacrifice. Liberti was one of the main reasons i did not even try for the job. My wife was developing relationships with other women that previously had been non-existent and I was getting into deep meaningful relationships with other men. These relationships have turned into crucial elements in our lives, and our marriage.

I know God brought me to this place, to this city, to this community so that I could get into the lives that I am invested. The result has been a transformed life, a restored marriage and a new set of priorities. I know that if I moved away from here, God could use me, and could bring me into new invested relationships. I just wonder at what cost? I place a huge amount of weight in community. I guess I would say: “proceed with caution”. You cannot let either extreme rule your process. I feel I am rambling.

Hopefully this makes some kind of sense

January 29 07 jenny jaskey wrote:

So I am the moving expert. I have lived in 18 bedrooms over the past 10 years, with a whopping six (soon to be seven this week) moves just in Philadelphia since I moved here two and a half years ago. At liberti, my moves coupled with the church’s growth have resulted in my being a part of four (soon to be five) home meetings and three different service locations. And that’s just in one city!

What is my point? Well, I’m exhausted. It’s not the physical moving that is so bad, but it is this juggling of relationships in every neighborhood, from our church and outside of it, that can feel like way too much to handle. There is the initial high of a new friendship or community and then the crash that comes when you realize that you’ve left a trail of friends from every address in your path – not doing anything all that well, keeping everything on a “see you at Standard Tap on Thursday” or “let’s get coffee at Mugshots sometime” kind of level. Maybe these are just specific-to-me issues, but my guess is that for many of us, even if we’ve committed to community and are “putting down roots” here in Philly (like I am), we can still feel like we live in about 8 cities all at once. There are the friends from work, the neighborhood friends, the church friends, the dogpark friends, the concert friends, the knitting friends, etc. etc.

I would love dialogue about this. I know that for me, the issues are more than just needing a Franklin Planner for my social life. They are in my heart – its desire for people to like me, its desire to maintain a certain level of distance from community in the name of community, and on my better days, a real desire to love others – which takes a lot of wisdom. I look forward to your thoughts.

February 07 07 Todd Carll wrote:

Holy smokes does this thread get some juices flowing. I love it. I’m glad I came in later to be able to take in the great variety of input and experience here from all the responders.

I think that some clarity may lie in a fuller understanding of the doctrine of “vocation”. This topic has intrigued me for some time and I’ve read some on it.

From Douglas J. Schuurman in his book Vocation: Discerning Our Callings in Life,
“If we are to recover the power of vocation to infuse all of life with religious meaning, and extend its range into all relational fields, then we must return to the expansive, religiously rich understanding of vocation in the Bible and the Reformation.
The development of the doctrine of vocation was a distinctive and influential feature of the Lutheran and Reformed wings of the Protestant Reformation. According to this doctrine all relational spheres – domestic, economic, political, cultural – are religiously and morally meaningful as divinely given avenues through which persons respond obediently to the call of God to serve their neighbor in love.”

You can read all of Chapter 1 of this book here:
http://www.buy.com/search/q/loc/106/search_store/3/querytype/books/douglas+schuurman.html

So if that is true then the idea of vocation is much more fully orbed concept then it had been being used by different folks earlier on in the thread. Nathan mentions at one point “career/vocation” joined in that fashion but this is too limiting for use of the idea of vocation. Vocation envelopes “career” and many other things, all of which really are primarily different types of “relationship”. If merely “career” was meant by Nathan in that context, then fine, but I’d challenge the origin of the concept of “career” if we are being about defining words and the validity of ideas and holding them up to the full light of scripture. I loved Nathan’s input and struggle with all of this and his commitment to having his opinion be Word informed, primarily as exemplified by the statement “I do want to be careful, however, only to criticize aspects of culture that are opposed to the gospel.” How true. This should be our goal and I think we best do this by making the positive case for the gospel’s influence on all of life.

Steven A. Hein in an article here:

http://www.issuesetc.org/resource/archives/hein.htm

says,

“Luther often used a special term to designate the Christian life of faithfulness – “vocation”. The word vocation comes from the Latin term, vocatio. A vocatio is a call or calling to a given way of life. It grants an individual a particular standing and position in relation to others within a community. Moreover, it defines how one meaningfully participates in and contributes to the life of the community. In other words, our vocation tells us who we are within our social structures of life and what kind of duties we are to be about for the welfare of the community. These features of life make demands on us to live lives of faith and faithfulness. We must trust our standing to live securely as a member and our faith is expressed, in part, by faithfully being about the tasks that are associated with our peculiar station in the community.”

I think this article is well worth the read (it has some Lutheran distinctives) because it uses the Gospel (the grace alone standing of acceptance before God) as the springboard and the feeding place for all of these ideas. It is excellent.

So this requires that we understand all of our particular “callings” and let God’s Word prioritize them for us. I have the vocation of husband and the Bible makes the family (a mini-community) unit the primary one, hence this is my first responsibility but one where I most best support and influence the other larger communities including the “household of faith”, our civic (governmental) communities, and occupational communities, etc. All fundamentally “relational fields”.

How well this is summarized in the real life application of Mike Murphy’s response. Their family decided on where they were to be based on the idea of “love of neighbor” first. That guiding principle realized that there were relationships of mutual dependence and encouragement that the Lord was using, not to mention the wisdom of seeing the positive outcome in their marriage, etc. (a love of Mike’s most immediate neighbor in Kristin), reaped from the other Christian relationships, etc. Although, as he said, those roots could be replanted where the other job was and community born there but of course the Lord is not restrained from bringing about a similar financial blessing to them in due time in Philadelphia if that’s to be.

So, I guess this all boils down to Godly wisdom. A “move” or a “non-move” can be done in faith or not in faith, and love for neighbor can be the motivator for “planting roots” or moving to someplace where one’s gifts can be more fully realized and used for the betterment of that foreign community. We then, as Christians have the freedom of choosing either without inherently sinning but, as was said by many, once again, it boils down to the heart and it’s motivations.

February 11 07 Nathan C wrote:

Well I read this and thought it was along the same topic.

“To try to escape ill-health of the soul by moving from place to place is like flying from one’s own shadow. Such a man as flies from himself carries himself with him. He changes his place, but not his soul. He finds himself the same everywhere he is, except that the constant moving itself makes him worse, just as a sick man is harmed by jolting when he is carried about.” Benedictine abbot William of St. Thierry

There are good reasons to move and bad ones. Community is what we need. Moving to escape is a bad reason.

February 16 07 Alissa McLaughlin wrote:

Well, I could not help myself as a new recent commuter from Philly to NYC EVERYDAY. After reading the following comments I struggled with judgement, no worries I will expand. I have pursued the Lord through my vocation, through my community and through my feelings but maybe I just need to pursue him. I was struck with the differing reasons we have for being in certain locations and the truth is are we not here because the Lord ordained it, he planned it? If our original motivation was work, kids, money or community, the Lord uses all of those reasons. I believe in free will but I also believe in a parent like presence in our Creator that will physically build walls or break down our resistence. I think going back to what Geoff said we need to not run from our problems and instead REST, rest in the Lord, which can be even more challenging then forcing ourselves to understand the will of our God in our communities or decide between one job or the next.
I feel the same way Geoff does with the difference being I lie to myself and others by shielding and saying “I’m great”.
I second that emotion presented by Jenny in regards of social popularity. Would I rather live in a community where I am well known and loved or be in a place where I feel lonely and unkown? The answer is obvious but the paradox is true community allows others to KNOW you and there is a struggle which is where my desire for popularity stops because of the pain of vulnerability. Again it is the Lord that knows your heart and why you are moving but I know the Lord still uses bad motives to his glory because of his power and love, not that I am advocating this behavior.
I also have to be honest, I have found moving to the city has been the most enriching experience in my spiritual life however it has also been the most detrimental, tempting and damaging. This is where the Lord showed up. He didn’t decide oh you don’t have a city zip so I will leave you bankrupt of any refining process he works on hearts not on locations. Wherever you are you need believers to know you and challenge you.

Also I find myself becoming a anti-surburban snob as well but I also find myself walking with cracked hands, wind burned face and seeing people I love and know when I need a moment or moments to myself. I often fantisize about retreating to a cabin where no one is around and I can not get caught picking my nose while I walk, singing to my music or crying in public. In my worst moments I am reluctantly thankful for close proximity and have experienced REAL joy that others LOVE me inspite of my bad habits, annoying behavior and grumpy mood. This only happens when proximity and quality time marry. I believe this can happen anywhere not just Philly although I love this city.
Until the Lord moves in my heart I will continue the commute to NYC because even though my job is in NYC and it sucks up a lot of my time commuting. I believe the Lord wants me to rest, rest in his decision for me in Philly. My initial reaction of course was to move but what was I moving from, the answers came and my history replaying through my head so until I feel the Lord’s prompt I will be here soaking up every interaction, positive and constructive.

Sorry, comments have been turned off for this one