Jacobsen puts Jesus in the context of our current ridiculous commuting norms, asking who would miss out on talking to Jesus if He jumped in His SUV on the way to the mega-church instead of walking there. How many people wouldn't have been able to touch the hem of His garment and be healed? How many people wouldn't have seen His smile or heard that they are loved? It was these unplanned, incidental contacts that meant so much to the people who encountered Jesus as a person just like them.
Today, incidental contacts have just as much value. Jacobsen offers an example of a janitor and a CEO standing in line to buy their morning papers at the same corner store. In that context, they only have things in common and are on equal ground to have a conversation and be in real relationship with one another. Income inequality, which leads to segregation by income, is one of the greatest injustices of our time and is causing myriad more problems. Walkable neighborhoods are desirable places to live, and communities that can figure out how to get back to the basics of the old urbanism model where neighbors know each other are really doing God's work in making it easier for neighbors to love each other. You can't really love someone until you've met them.
Yesterday a friend and I were walking down to the lake because we had some unusually nice weather and I was going stir crazy in my office. We stopped at a corner and a couple with a little dog asked us how to get to the lake. Well, anybody who has been in Waukegan knows it's awesome when you get to the pier or to the beach, but tricky to figure out the first time. Anyway, we walked our new friends down there. They turned out to have just moved to the area and I got to give my shpeel about all the cool things happening downtown. We traded phone numbers and I'm looking forward to inviting them to our next event in my neighborhood and inviting them to really become part of our community. Here's the thing about incidental contact - neither of us knew how much money the other makes or what other people think of us, and we didn't care. We all just wanted to walk to the lake.
Here are the questions Jacobsen asks after chapter 6:
1) What
kind of variety in housing and commercial activity can you
find within a five minutes walk from your front door?
2) Would
you rather live in a mixed-use neighborhood or a single use
neighborhood? Try to come up with a list of specific
advantages and disadvantages of both models.
3) If you
wanted to live in a mixed-use neighborhood, would that even
be possible for you given your geographic and economic limitations?
4) Do you
have any errands or tasks in your day where you choose to
walk instead of drive? What factors lead you to make
this choice?
5) Of all
of the neighborhoods that you’ve lived in or visited, what
has provided the best setting for walking? What made
it the best?
More important than walkability or efficiency is a neighborhood that is built for the Whole Person. A place where people have more than just their physical needs met - where they feel good and where they want to live. Whole People have time to make improvements to their neighborhood. Crime is reduced because Whole People check up on each other. Whole People are tremendous advocates for their own communities.
Tonight I have some work to finish and when I leave my office after a while, I know when I walk home I'll see my friends closing up Taqueria Guerrero and Pierce Florist on my block, people hanging out after trivia night at Green Town, actors and actresses leaving rehearsal at Clockwise Theatre, and some commuters walking home from the train station. And I know that if I'm feeling a little discouraged or overwhelmed with work and need somebody to make me back into a Whole Person, I've got people within walking distance who might just have time for some incidental contact.
I really do love where I live.
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