Yesterday Jackie and I ate lunch at Gray’s Papya. They sell these buttons – “Polite New
Yorker.” Obviously, I bought one, duh. As we walked around the city killing time
until we went to the taping of The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, it will come
as no surprise to anyone that we engaged in conversations with people
everywhere we went. Almost immediately when
we would talk to people they would turn to me and say something like, “So,
where are you from?” I am proud of the
fact that I have little to no accent.
And none of them mentioned anything about an accent when they asked me. No, it was evident that actively engaging
with strangers is not typical New Yorker behavior. 
God wants us to live alongside people from every age, color,
race, ethnicity, language, and worldview in a space where creative expression
bursts from the seams of the concrete… where the desire to create is nurtured
and valued. The opportunity to love
people, to understand them, to see them, to be loved by them and to move in a
rhythm of shared experience
is simply spectacular. That is realized nowhere else on earthy more
acutely than right here in New York City, the city that never sleeps.
It grieves me that most New Yorkers don’t appreciate the
valuable resource at hand. But this
dissonance is familiar. Every day I meet
people that don’t recognize the climate of the Kingdom around them. As my hair blows back in the wind, and my
cheeks flush from the radiant heat, they stand still and cold.
The spirit stirs inside of me; as though I can feel the
focused attention of our Creator’s love for the 8 million + presently in my
proximity humming within. It washes over
me, and I celebrate. This city is
sacred, and I am thankful I have the opportunity to take my shoes off on this
holy ground. Revelation 21:23
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will the gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.
It all belongs to God.
It’s all sacred. Be reminded it
can all be yours too. May you have
eyes to see. Go on; take the red pill. You might have to fight an agent
or two, but you also just might meet the Savior.
Soundtrack - New York, New York – Frank Sinatra, King of New York – Newsies; God of this City – Bluetree/Chris Tomlin.
