We have much to celebrate today, and one square of bubbling plaster puts a damper on it all.
A
group of youth from the West Humboldt Park community interned with us
for the summer, and today they completed their final project: a mural.
Decorating the entryway, this vibrant mural, designed by a
19-year-old, showcases the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan. In a
high school student's careful lettering, the sky above the lake reads
"New Life - Nueva Vida." In our generation-old building, the new mural
shouts testament to what the "disadvantaged" youth of this community
can create and complete. Their creativity and tenacity have been
outstanding.
And yet, there is the fourth wall. This mural
spans three walls of our entry, with design ready and waiting for the
fourth. There, the problems mount. The three-story-high gutter over
this wall is mispointed, washing water down the bricks. The interns'
many attempts at interior plaster repair were worthless with the
moisture outside that wall. The need is for a gutter professional, and
there is nothing the interns nor I can do but make calls, budget funds,
make more calls...and wait. Major gutter repair is not something that
happens overnight--nor in time for the interns' limited summer
employment.
This entryway, for me, is a picture of what urban
ministry often looks like. We do all the tutoring we can...but the
child's grades nosedive from her inattention in school. We do all the
violence prevention we can...and still the gang members camp out on our
children's front steps. We do all the job training we can...and the
youth drop out three days into the job. What we do with the three
walls we can control pales in comparison to the mess of chaos on the
fourth.
So what do we do? We choose to paint. We pick up
our paintbrush and paint the biggest, brightest, most beautiful mural
we can on the three walls we have. Then we make calls to experts,
wait, and pray for the help we need to finish the fourth wall. But we
don't give up on our three little walls. We know the fourth wall will
come with time and prayer, and when it does, we'll be ready,
paintbrushes in hand.
