The City is my Home

“You are brave,” the country girl said to me after my last post about taking the train for groceries and then stopping to donate blood.

Braveness is not what I feel when I’m on home turf. It’s normal life for me to take the train to buy groceries, to walk among hundreds of people when I’m going to market, or to tap an OMNY card for a bus ride to the sea.

Normal is climbing four sets of steps out of Elmhurst subway station. Then I trudge up three flights to our apartment. There are five locks on the door into our apartment, but we only use one deadbolt. We feel safe here. We also feel safe on the city streets in our neighborhood. I would not be afraid to walk alone at any time. (But one doesn’t walk alone in this city that never sleeps.)

The sounds of sirens, of planes taking off, and of the neighbor’s voices are around us, but usually they are not annoying. We hear apartment doors slam and people talking in the entry.

Normal is taking the train to church. Last Sunday some of our brothers and sisters were on the same train and in the same car as us. They did not know we lived here. We did not know they were in the city. Such a delightful surprise. It is not normal to run into our people in the city.

The sanctuary in Harlem fills with dear ones of different nationalities and cultures, so it isn’t the American typical Sunday school discussions, but God is present, and we are inspired. Afterwards, the routine is dinner in the fellowship hall. Truly, it is fellowship of the best kind, and there is no place we’d rather be.

The hospital where my husband works is a few blocks away from our apartment. Not only has it provided our living for many years, but it’s taken good care of our medical needs. We are not strangers there.

A few people say, “I could live here.” Many more tell me, “I could never live here.” Long ago I would have said that too, but that was before I knew the plans God had for us. The city is my home. I’m glad I live here, and while I’m here, I look for a city whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11:10).

Berniece