FOR A NEW HOME by John O’Donohue

May this house shelter your life.

When you come in home here,

May all the weight of the world

Fall from your shoulders.

May your heart be tranquil here,

Blessed by peace the world cannot give.

May this home be a lucky place,

Where the graces your life desires

Always find the pathway to your door.

May nothing destructive

Ever cross your threshold.

May this be a safe place

Full of understanding and acceptance,

Where you can be as you are,

Without the need of any mask

Of pretense or image.

May this home be a place of discovery,

Where the possibilities that sleep

In the clay of your soul can emerge

To deepen and refine your vision

For all that is yet to come to birth.

May it be a house of courage,

Where healing and growth are loved,

Where dignity and forgiveness prevail;

A home where patience of spirit is prized,

And the sight of the destination is never lost

Through the journey be difficult and slow.

May there be a great delight around this hearth.

May it be a house of welcome

For the broken and diminished.

May you have the eyes to see

That no visitor arrives without a gift

And no guest leaves without a blessing.

The Irish poet and priest John O’Donohue (1956-2008) shared this house blessing in his book To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings (Doubleday, 2008). It not only names the hopes and dreams we have for our homes, but the function they play in creating a space in which our lives can flourish and our humanity can remain intact. While the marketplace imagines homes simply as commodities whose value can be assessed on the basis of supply and demand, our experience of having and making homes for ourselves and our families provides us with a different way of understanding their value.

Questions for Reflection:

1. How has your home been a source of blessing in your life, and how has your home been a source of blessing for others in your life?
2. In whose homes has your courage, healing, and growth been nurtured?
3. How are neighborhoods and communities blessed by the presence of stable homes?

Submitted by Rev. Erik Christensen, Pastor of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, Chicago

Blair Kamin, the architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune, covered the Plan Commission meeting on Thursday, February 18, highlighting the opposition to the Lathrop Homes plan and adding his own questions about what he called “the social architecture” of a plan that does not adequately address the loss of units for low-income families in a desirable north side location. Read his article HERE.

2 KINGS 8:1-6

In this story, a Shunamite widow and her son leave their home to avoid a famine. Upon her return 7 years later, she finds herself at risk of homelessness (the circumstances around her home and land are not explained) and she must go to the King for a decision. Fortunately, the King restores everything that belonged to her, but it might not have turned out so well without her relationship to Elisha, the prophet.

Questions for Reflection:

1. How do you think the outcome of the story would have been different if Elisha hadn’t been involved?
2. Who would become more vulnerable to displacement or housing insecurity without your involvement?
3. Do you or your faith community have a connection to the King that has power over housing in your community?
4. If not, how can you build a connection to better protect those who are risk of losing their homes?

There is no devotional for Sunday, February 21.

To get to the subway, I walk under the Kennedy Expressway overpass at Belmont and Kedzie.  Correction.  I walk through the bedrooms of dozens of men and women who call the viaduct ‘home’.  Every time I pass by, I feel uncomfortable–like I’m invading their privacy.  But I also feel deeply disturbed and angry.  These people are literally kicked to the curb. And they are routinely harassed by the police, treated like criminals and their belongings confiscated.

I often hear people say, “They should go to a shelter.”  FYI.  There are NO overnight shelters located in the 60618 or the 60647 zip codes–the area surrounding the viaduct.  There used to be shelters, but the city cut funds for homeless services.  And just yesterday, the Mayor-appointed city Plan Commission just approved the elimination of 525 units of public housing at Lathrop Homes, 12 blocks away from the viaduct, replacing them with almost 500 units of housing for the wealthy.  It makes me ask who the real criminals are.

ISAIAH 5:8-10

God announces judgment on the land due in part to the ways that those with wealth and power have expanded their property portfolios. Isaiah indicates that property expansion results in a breakdown in personal and community social structures by taking “place” away from others.

Questions for Reflection:

1. How do you see people today “adding house to house and joining field to field”?
2. Why do you think people aspire to purchase time-shares, vacation condos, winter homes in Florida, summer homes in Michigan, downtown weekend condos, etc?
3. Do you own extra property? How could you use it to “give place” to others?

Today, a group of Lathrop Homes public housing residents and allies including pastors and members of Logan Square churches descended on the city Plan Commission to oppose the Lathrop Homes Planned Development (rezoning) application.  There was quite a stir!

After more than 3 hours of powerful public testimony by advocates of public housing, preservationists, residents and pastors that raised serious questions about the elimination of public housing units and gentrification, some of the commissioners began asking tough questions of the CHA and the development team.  Several times, those in the gallery began singing, “Whose side are you on? Oh, whose side are you on?”  As the vote was taken, you could hear the song being hummed in the background.

In the end, the Planned Development application was approved, BUT….  It was not unanimous AND it came with several restrictions on CHA moving forward.  We’ve been told that dissenting votes are  unprecedented.  The Spirit was moving.

Now, we take the fight for housing justice to the City Council Zoning Committee next month when the Council will consider the zoning changes approved today.  We will be there again, asking the Aldermen on the committee, “Whose Side Are You On?”  We trust the Spirit will stir things up there too.

Read Pastor Ray’s testimony before the Plan Commission HERE.

DEUTERONOMY 19:14; PROVERBS 23:10-11

Because land was a family inheritance, moving a boundary line was the equivalent of stealing one’s future. The law protects people—especially those who are vulnerable—from those who would encroach on their neighbors. While moving a fence line rarely happens today, decisions about zoning, eminent domain (where the government takes private property for community benefit) or water rights can dramatically change the value of one’s property—in some cases, making it worthless. For instance, the decision of the appointed Flint, MI, Emergency Manger to switch over to water from the Flint River has further devastated the city—and homes are worthless. In Picher, OK, industrial pollution has turned the small town into a ghost town. See the story (and pictures) of Picher HERE.

Questions for Reflection:

1. Given the Law about boundaries, what does that tell us about God?
2. When there is a proposal to change the way land is used or would negatively impact the value of land, what side should God’s people take? Why?

PRAYER REQUEST FOR TODAY

Today, the members of the City Plan Commission are scheduled to meet at City Hall to consider the zoning changes required for the redevelopment of Lathrop Homes. Approval of the changes will pave the way for the elimination of public housing units at Lathrop Homes. If you are able, attend the meeting beginning at 10:00 am. If you are unable to attend, please pray that God will protect those who are vulnerable.

EZEKIEL 45:1, 7-9; 46:16-18  

In Ezekiel’s vision of the future layout of Jerusalem, the Prince is to receive a section of land as his inheritance. But there are limits placed around the Prince’s power over the land. He is forbidden from taking land from others to increase his land holdings or to enrich members of his family. In other words, God’s limits the Prince’s power to correct abuses like evictions or eminent domain land seizures.

Questions for Reflection:

1. Can you think of a current example of a leader (or group of leaders) who taken property from others for his/her own gain?
2. What protections are in place in your community to make sure people are not dispossessed or displaced by those in power?
3. What are the dangers of letting “the housing market” run its course freely?

Prayer Request for Today

About 20 years ago, the Prince of the City of Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley, worked out a deal with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which removed oversight of the Chicago Housing Authority and the way that it spends federal funds. Since then, the CHA has amassed about 450 million dollars while turning public housing sites into mixed income communities that have eliminated thousands of units for the poor. Today, the City Council Housing Committee will hold a hearing on the “Keeping the Promise” ordinance that will hold the CHA accountable to its mission, require transparency regarding use of federal dollars, require the Chicago Housing Authority to replace units of public housing that have been lost over the past 15 years, lease vacant units, and distribute federal housing vouchers to qualifying families. Please pray that this ordinance is approved in committee so that qualifying families will have a chance access to safe, affordable housing.

A trend over the last 40 years is for young (predominantly white) artists, students and professionals to move into poorer urban communities of color in what has become known as “gentrification.” Property values increase, new capitol comes into the community, and crime rates often fall. Cities often encourage this shift because it represents development and increased revenue. However, as good as all this sounds, “gentrification” has a dark side. According to Teresa Cordova in her article “Community Intervention Efforts to Oppose Gentrification” (In Philip W. Nyden, Wim Wiewel, eds., Challenging Uneven Development: An Urban Agenda for the 1990s, (1991) New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 25-48.),

“gentrification is a creation of real estate agents, property developers, and banks who control the “who” and “where” of urban property shifts.”

In other words, those with power see a way to profit through a shift in the way urban property is reused. In addition, as property values increase, property taxes and rents rise, often making the community unaffordable for existing homeowners and tenants. Families are forced to find a more affordable community. It also promotes speculative land purchases as people look for the next “hot” neighborhood. Buy a cheap property, hold on to it and then flip it for a large profit. We are watching this this phenomena happening in Logan Square—especially along the Bloomingdale Trail. What was once an affordable community for immigrants and low-income families has now become the most recent “hot neighborhood” in Chicago.

This process of “re-urbanization” (and subsequent “sub-urbanization” and “ex-urbanization” of the poor) is happening across the country.  Millennials–many who grew up in suburbs and who are seeking community connections, walkable communities, and a vibrant night life–are being targeted by developers.  In Logan Square, a vast majority of new housing developments are studio and 1 bedroom units and are marketed to single people or young couples.  There is little room for families, and few of the units are truly “affordable.”