Showers of Grace

That first summer in Washington, D.C., shortly after the community had moved from Chicago in 1975, was one of the hottest and muggiest on record. While we newcomers became acclimated to Washington weather with excruciating sluggishness, the saunalike D.C. air seemed to do little to sodden the energetic spirits of the neighborhood kids who greeted us the day we moved in.

One particularly torpid day, as we and our newfound friends were strewn around before fans that only blew the heavy air back in our faces, the heavens opened, drenching the asphalt in a sudden rainstorm. In one great movement of the Spirit—or at least of joyful relief—we ran into the street, leaping and cavorting in the cool rain, twirling, laughing, delighting in God's gift of the storm and in each other.

That sense of God's graciousness toward us has from the very beginning characterized our worship together. Again and again we have been astounded at God's sheer ingenuity in drawing together such ordinary yet diverse people and molding us into something approaching coherence.

While celebrating unity our worship has likewise reflected our diversity, combining liturgy with an emphasis on the preaching of the word, as well as moments of contemplative silence and spontaneous outbreaks of song, praise, and prayer.

At no time was our diversity more a source of struggle and joy than in our early households, where sometimes as many as 18 people lived together in precarious harmony. At weekly household meetings and around the dinner table, we attempted to work with our differing tastes and gifts—everything from a preference for lentils or an aversion to mushrooms to styles of prayer and spirituality—while we rejoiced in our community.

This month marks our first 10 years in Washington, D.C. It has been a rich decade that has brought both changes in the shape and structure of the community and deepening conversion in each of our individual lives. During those years we chose a neighborhood, Columbia Heights, in which to root ourselves, and many of our neighbors are coming to be far more to us than merely those with whom we share the aggravations of city life.

Our ministry has grown, as have our families, though none of our households has 18 members anymore. And we have accumulated friends from all over the city who worship with us and give of themselves in ministry, adding tremendous breadth and depth to our lives and work.

Through it all, we continue to be as aware as ever we were during those early hot summer days of God's tender care of the young seedling called Sojourners, of the refreshing rain of divine love that continues to shower amazingly upon us.

Lindsay McLaughlin was managing editor of Sojourners magazine when this article appeared.