As Big as the City

Part of my homework has been to read this book:

http://covers.openlibrary.org/w/id/633546-L.jpg

After reading it, we had to write down a response- where do we see God in the city?

What kept popping to mind was a time I watched a boy and his brother sitting together during free time in an after school program.  The older brother, N, had been throwing paper airplanes with his friends when his brother, J, asked him to come sit and play.  I expected N to just give his brother the cold shoulder especially since J was handicapped and his coloring didn't stand a chance against the excitement of wreaking havoc in the small room with paper airplanes.

I think I remember N hesitating for just a moment before he came and sat down next to J, but I'm not sure.  Apparently they had a ritual because J had already constructed a lopsided Tic-Tac-Toe board that went from edge to edge but barely left enough room for the middle square.  N flopped down and put his letter on the board.  At J's second turn it was clear that he had no idea how to employ strategy in the game.  But N was expecting this.  Whenever his brother made a careless move he simply chose an even worse move for himself. 

J, I could tell, prized having the attention over winning almost every time.  Once there was nothing N could do and no one ended up winning.  J didn't care.  He just drew a new square and they played until J got bored with the game.

So that's God to me, becuase that's what God asks of us: "seek justice" (Micah 6:8).  N walked away with joy that day.  I could tell from watching how much he cared for his brother.  And sometimes joy comes in understanding that your brother needs a little extra help.  And love definitely works that way.  Sometimes it means making a stupid Tic-Tac-Toe move or ignoring your friends.

To me, the crazy thing was that if I hadn't been sitting there, no one, not even his brother, would have realized what he was doing for his brother.  N never called J stupid or goaded over him or took advantage.  He understood who his brother was and what he needed, and gave it to him.  Even at the cost of missing out on some epic paper plane time with his other friends. 

It reminds me of this quote from someone I met over the summer:

"I think if you're the only person in the whole world doing the right thing, I think you have to do the right thing, right?"