City evening

About this time many evenings, I watch people walking home from work, see the lights coming on across the street in apartments here and there, and wonder, Who are these people I'm seeing? Do they have families?  Are they happy?  Do they know the grace of God? And who is that man who walks through our neighborhood every night at about 10:30, yelling, "Love God! Love God! Love God!" in a Haitian accent?  

The scene at dusk often reminds me of a certain illustration from The Paper Princess, an old favorite picture book of C.Z.'s.  There's a particular two-page drawing that shows the paper princess flying over a town in the evening, and you can see the families inside each home, feeding their children, putting them to bed, worshiping, or reading.  (I also like this book because it really makes me want to doodle!)  

City families don't often have fireplaces or cuddly farm animals (although I did hear about a homeschooling family adopting a lost chicken recently).  But we have lights at dusk.  We have dinners.  We have books.  We also have constant reminders of those who are in need, which is probably a good spur for those of us who have enough, because the Lord is the Lord of the city for all.