There are only two cities in the world that can claim their name to be simply “the city”. One is New York, the other San Francisco. Since I originally started in San Francisco this part of the world will always be known to me as the “city”. In the past twenty years there is much that has changed, yet the externals are so familiar!
Walking hand in hand with Cherry took me back to those days of youth when no obstacle seemed too high or far away. Watching a jogger cruise by pulled me back to running the stairs on the east side of the Presidio. Watching the clouds and people in Union Square on a sunny afternoon was a pure time warp. There are so many familiar landmarks to jog one’s memory. The Banker’s Heart, Cable Cars, and great Chinese food all find their home. Yet things change.
One might assume that they know what the City is like, but if you haven’t been part of the fabric for the past two decades I doubt that one is in touch. Hundreds, thousands have died due to AIDS. Lives have been forever altered as corporate centers have moved away. Multiple earthquakes have eliminated several familiar highways. The Presidio is no longer an Army base. Life is never quite the same.
I wonder if I would recognize the pattern of God’s handiwork in the City? How would life play out in this location? Would the evidence point to work in the Tenderloin, those reaching out to society’s outcasts? Perhaps you would find a trail South of Market or out along Bayshore Boulevard. Regardless of location I do know this about those working with God. They would be “dressed in a robe soaked with blood.” (Revelation 19.12) The reason is because God’s people desperately care about those at risk, including you and me.
In many ways it doesn’t matter if the “city” is San Francisco, London, New York, or a Lost City. Everyplace brings opportunities to give away what we have received. What will be our legacy?
