My kind of town

Last updated on: November 1, 2007 at 5:14 am by Michelle Van Loon

My kind of town 2007-11-01T05:14:00-05:00 Michelle Van Loon

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’m watching the local news, and they’re showing a shot of the Edens Expressway. It is a solid line of cars, because they’re doing some kind of roadwork (6:15 a.m. is the PERFECT time of day to jackhammer some concrete). These shots of cars burning three buck-a-gallon gas while idling on the parking lots known as roads in Chicago are a daily fixture of life here in the Chicago area. The underbuilt roads are one of the worst parts of life here – too many cars all vying for asphalt time.

So if the roads are one of the worst parts of Chicago life, what are some of the pleasures of living here? I’m not shilling for the department of tourism. I’m writing as someone living in the metropolitan area, just like 10 million-ish others do. So…in no particular order…

(1) The skyline. Stunning. It never fails to take my breath away. I’ve lived here most of my life and I never get tired of seeing it.

(2) Hot dogs. Italian beef. Deep dish pizza.

(3) Unusually terrible sports teams most of the time. Think fo the Michael Jordan-era Bulls, the 1985 Bears and the 2005 White Sox as abberations. After all, if I, a casual sports fan at best, can quote you names and years of winning teams, it’s because those come few and far between here. There’s a weird psychology of suffering at work if you’re a Chicago sports fan.

(4) Ethnic diversity. I live in a suburb, which typically conjures images of Caucasian people driving SUVs. But this is not necessarily true in the `burbs. Most of the time when I took my grandson to the park across the street from my house this summer, I was almost always the only English As A First Language speaker there. I heard lots of Russian, various Indian dialects, Spanish and occasional Chinese. (To contrast, when we lived in WI, I often felt like the most exotic ethnic person in the room.)

(5) The cultural scene here. Living in a place where there’s so much arts stuff happening makes conversation more interesting and people more literate.

(6) Fascinating recent spiritual history. During the last hundred-ish years or so, the Chicago metropolitan area has been the home all sorts of evangelicalism’s expressions, for example. Think DL Moody, Wheaton College (as well as several other committed to the cause of Christ institutions of higher learning), the city of Zion, lots of Christian publishers and Willow Creek Community Church. There is a calling/ministry of communication in the spiritual DNA of this region.

(7) The people: Big city sophisticated and Midwestern friendly, with a long heritage of patronage and networking. The single sentence that best sums up Chicago ways is the one that begins, “I got a guy…” As in, “I got a guy who can get you that car part for a third the cost”, “I got a guy who can get your kid a summer job at the park district”, “I got a guy who can rout out your clogged drain line”. Or take care of your parking ticket.

What do you like or dislike about the place where you live?

Uncategorized

Previous Post

October 26, 2007

Rebel aria

Next Post

November 2, 2007 Do I read what I write?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Baggage Books Calendar Church and Ministry CVID Ecclesiology Everyday Christian life Faith Falling Upward From The Margins Housing Jesus Movement's Unintended Consequences Midlife Midlife Survey #1 Midlife Survey #2 Moments and Days Out To The Margins Pilgrim's Road Trip Regret Seminary Spiritual Formation Uncategorized What's A Nice Jewish Grandmother Like You Doing In Seminary? When The Heart Waits Writing

Select a Month June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Paul say is a mystery that has been hidden but is now revealed, which is Christ in you?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The hope of glory The power of God Salvation Eternal life