I had just decided not to return back to college in person. I wanted to stay at Love City and finish my degree online. Shawn said he had the perfect role to make sure I could manage work and my homework. All I had to do was sit at the front desk and check in students for open gym. A week later, ballroom construction began and the checkout and open gym entrance moved to the back cafe.
If you track the journey of Jesus and his sayings throughout his proclamation of the Kingdom, you can see how they adapt to his crowd. In the rural hills among the working class of Galilee you get parables about farming, carpentry, and common life. Then, as the narrative approaches Jerusalem, the parables begin to switch more towards wealth and religious tradition.
It can happen anywhere, at any moment. It can be scheduled, unscheduled, done with a lot of noise or silently. Sometimes people don’t even know that it is going on, they just know that something is different. It is difficult to explain to people because it is normal at Love City, but some people may only truly experience a few times in their lives. It is being in the Spirit with others, in the body of Christ, the Church.
Imagine being ten years old, you are living in the middle of a pandemic that no one has an answer for, you turn on the news to hear about injustice and rioting in your city, you're told you are going to school online for an unknown amount of time, away from being able to socialize with people. It was an unprecedented, uncertain time for many of us, but imagine being ten years old with all that going on.
The sweet smell of fresh baked cinnamon rolls and blueberry muffins wafting throughout the cafe. The shoes squeaking on the gym floor. The sleepy faces of middle schoolers contrasting the joyful laughter of kindergarteners. It’s a typical Mighty Oak morning, and it’s almost that time again. The first day of Mighty Oak comes next Wednesday. New faces, names, stories, teachers, schedules, a new school year dawns on us. A school year that promises one thing only, amazing stories of the power of Love.
If you have ever read scripture, you may have come across something like what is above. The above is actually only four generations of more than ten that tell the genealogy of Adam to Noah. If you are anything like me, you may have skipped over these seemingly endless lists of names and numbers whose only purpose seems to be to overload the brain with words and numbers that it will never use.
The wilderness, or the desert, is a term I have heard used to describe periods of spiritually difficult times. Times of despair, angst, and confusion. It is also a term I have heard used to describe Portland and other similar neighborhoods, food deserts and economic deserts, wastelands of dilapidated houses, shuttered businesses, and closed down hospitals. When you picture a desert in your mind you probably conjure up images of brutal heat and barren land void of signs of life.
When we were thinking about how to communicate the community impact that a thrift store could have, the first thing that came to our mind was a cycle. If you follow our social media pages you may have seen the graphic that we made to show the way our store operates. It starts when someone comes in to shop, it continues when a purchase is made, and then they are able to enjoy the item they purchase, and the cycle is brought back to the start when they decide to donate back to us.
If you listen to much christian music, you have probably heard the song “Garden in Manhattan” by Josiah Queen. The song uses symbolism such as being a “light in the dark”, a “river where it's dry”, and a “garden in Manhattan”. The same symbolism that Jesus uses to talk about his followers. People have often applied these same figures of speech to Love City’s position in Portland: a garden or oasis in the desert of Portland. However, I no longer think this is an accurate comparison.
The laws of the Old Testament were meant to help establish principles of God’s Kingdom within the nation of Israel. The laws were meant to imbue every aspect of a community with these principles; politics, legal, economic, ceremonial laws were all meant to establish a nation that honored God, one another, and the God created purpose of humans. There were even laws about farming that served this same purpose. Landowners were only supposed to harvest to the edges of their field, leaving the perimeter and the gleanings to the poor, foreigners, and travelers.
To say the community has come behind us to support the launch of Merriment would be an understatement. They have not only shown up to shop, but they have also shown up to make sure we have plenty of inventory. They have offered encouragement and advice. They have shared stories and ideas with us. They have fully backed us and we are so thankful that we have been able to fill this need in our community.
Getting to watch the thrift store this past week has been amazing. Hearing people's reactions has validated the true need for a thrift store in Portland. We have had a ton of neighbor’s show up to support us, we have seen a lot of neighbors come multiple times, we have had neighbors show up every day of the week, trying to find out when the next time we will be open is. A lot of our neighbors who are regulars at Porkland have come to Merriment to check it out as well.
Yesterday was the first day of Merriment Thrift. The thrift store that is designed to raise money for Mighty Oak Academy while also serving neighbors with a place for nice, affordable clothes and home goods. It was a day that we entered into with excitement. With all the hard work that has been put in over the past few months; it was a beautiful day that allowed us to see the first glimpses of the vision we had for the space.
Today is the last day of another school year. It is amazing how quickly they seem to go by. It has been a a year with a lot of learning for us and a lot of elevation of our students. We are so proud of the increase in their evaluations, seeing a huge spike of kids getting caught up onto grade level. It is what encourages us and lets us know that what we are doing is actually working and helping to create change. We had an action packed week to end the year and I wanted to share a few highlights.
This year, you all have gotten to follow the journey of our 8th grade students. You have gotten to hear about them at their best and worst, the total 180 in behavior from last year, and the incredible maturity they have shown this year. We got to see another one of these beautiful moments last week.
When a neighborhood doesn’t have restaurants, retail stores, and recreational businesses in them, then the expendable income of the community goes to other neighborhoods. Money that should be supporting and building up the neighborhood is escaping due to lack of spending options. Creating jobs and businesses in neighborhoods is essential, especially for neighborhoods like Portland where transportation is an issue.
Throughout the school year we have many fun programs, Christmas skits, wax museums, spring performances. These tend to be a hit with our younger students, but we do not usually get a lot of buy-in from our middle schoolers. In a beautiful, unexpected moment, we got to see a break from the norm this week.
Shelter is a primary human need. It is one of the basic needs listed in Maslow’s hierarchy. It is one of the needs that has always been there and will continue to be there for all humanity. Yet, for many, housing is not secure. Housing can be one sick day, one argument, or one complaint from falling through. When we feel insecure in any of our primary needs being met, tensions will rise. When these tensions rise together in neighborhoods, it does nothing but create problems.
This week, our 3rd-5th graders got to visit Bernheim Forest and explore the beautiful area. It always excites me when we are able to get our students into nature. Nature can be such a powerful place for contemplation and revelation, especially when our students are used to living in a tightly packed neighborhood with limited nature options such as ours. Introducing this to students early on can give them so much appreciation for nature and skills to get the most benefits, spiritually and mentally, from time spent outdoors.
