A Community Gathering Place
Several years ago, a statue of Marilyn Monroe was temporarily on display on the corner of Tahquitz and Palm Canyon in Palm Springs. The statue made that corner a hub of activity, making it an opportunity for God to do something unique.
While I was at church on May 27, 2012, I felt God prompting me to gather people to be a presence for His Kingdom on that corner. I also wanted to test a theory that I had been exposed to – the idea that reading the Bible out loud made a difference. Combining these two inspirations, I asked the people in my church if they would help me read through the entire Bible out loud over the coming month near the Marilyn Statue. It was a wild stretch, but God worked in our lives, and we did it. We weren’t conspicuous. The goal was to read like we were having an intimate conversation with a friend or talking on our cell phones. We didn’t descend on the area as a group but fit the readings into our individual schedules over the four weeks. Each of us signed up for one or more section to read, which consisted of several chapters that would take between fifteen and twenty minutes to read. We then reported back what happened while we were there. The stories were phenomenal. People wanting to join in, people asking about faith, readers receiving emotional healing, and overall love and connection with the community that opened our eyes to the needs around us.
During that same time, a group of Christian college-age youth came through Palm Springs as they were traveling around the country sharing the love of Jesus. They made sure to tell us that they felt that God was going to bless this corner with more opportunities in the future to share God’s love with the community.
Still a Gathering Place
Today – June 9, 2019
My husband and I were driving along Palm Canyon on Sunday afternoon and to my surprise and great joy there was a group of college-age students on the corner using conversation boards to start dialogs about faith in Jesus. Marilyn is long gone, but the corner is still a gathering place, and God is using it.
I’m looking forward to even more strange and unusual ways that God will inhabit that corner with His presence.
What are you dreaming about today? Is it a big God idea that has long-term ramifications? Are you bold enough to step through fear, embarrassment, and reluctance to make it happen? Are there other people who can help you accomplish your dream? If so, don’t let anything hold you back. For me, the risk was worth it.
