A Small Glimpse of Redemption

On a recent walk in Homewood, my wife noticed a large broken mirror laying on the ground in a vacant lot. It was surrounded by a bunch of scattered trash right in the middle of the Homewood central business district. She's been asking me for a while if we could go and pick it up so that she could use it for a mosaic project that she's been working on with my daughters. I have a day off today, so it seemed as good a time as any to go to the middle of Homewood to pick a large piece of broken trash. The broken glass now resides in my home awaiting its transformation. 

This is a small example of redemption in my urban neighborhood. A piece of broken trash that somebody threw away in my neighborhood will be redeemed into a beautiful piece of artwork. Something broken will become something with a purpose once again. In many ways, my neighborhood has been neglected and cast away by the powers that be in my city for a long time. Still, a redemptive work is taking place. Passionate followers of Jesus are working together to bring about a redemptive work. We are fulfilling our roles in God's mission to redeem every person and place. The process of transformation takes time, but it is a beautiful thing to be a part of.