I found God
On the corner of First and Amistad
As the song “You Found Me” by The Fray trickles into my headphones on my iTunes I can’t help but ponder the lyrics. Where is God? Is he truly at the corner of 1st and Amistad? Also, is he smoking a cigarette?
Several years ago a couple of my favorite urban ministry heroes wrote a book that I’m thumbing through again today for the 6th time called “Street Signs.” The basic premise of the book is that God is at work in the city and there are street signs … signs of hope that God is here. So yes, in more ways than one God is at the corner of 1st and Amistad. As one who grew up in rural America I was inclined to think of cities as dark insidious places full of corruption and violence. They scared me to death. Of all places on earth God was NOT in the city.
But then something changed. Simply put, God gave me a heart for what he loves … cities. It’s one of those things that wasn’t a conscious decision but an evolutionary process. Can God be found on our major urban centers? Yes. If we believe that God is a sovereign God then maybe we need to wake up and realize that God is calling all of the nations to migrate to the cities. In a few decades global urbanization will be in the 80% range. As of now it has crested 50% for the first time in human history. There is a reverse-diaspora taking places will people are no longer SCATTERING but instead are GATHERING in cities around the world.
Many nights as I pray over my boys at bedtime my prayers is that they’d grow up to be “global urban Christians” with a heart for the cities of the world. Sometimes we’ll sit down and look at the pictures and read about cities from all over the world. I want them to have a heart for what God has a heart for. I pray that somehow someway they’ll be engaged in cultural transformation in some city somewhere. As they grow and incarnate themselves in the cities they’re doing the same thing Jesus did 2,000 years ago. So maybe when someone writes of meeting God at the corner of 1st and Amistad it will be that they met someone who follows God and points them to the Messiah.
January 2, 2009 at 7:02 pm |
Great post! I used to attend a church with the pastor often talked about God’s love for the city, that the new Jerusalem would essentially be the ultimate city…and as a mountain turned city boy I agree with your post.
God bless!
January 23, 2009 at 8:38 am |
I love this post, dude. I was wondering about 1st and Amistad as well and the song definitely has religious overtones. Could it be in New York City, Chicago or even somewhere across the ocean like London?
Actually it could be anywhere that has street signs. I used to live in DC and it reminded me of DC for some reason.
February 4, 2009 at 2:13 pm |
Well, the video for that song is definitely in Chicago. You can see the skyline plus they are playing on some drawbridge.
February 9, 2009 at 12:09 pm |
They were on a morning radio show last week (or the week before.. can’t recall) and played this song live. They said 1st and Amistad is referenced to an intersection here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but I’m having trouble finding it on google maps.
They said there wasn’t necessarily meant to be a reference to Dallas, though.
March 16, 2009 at 12:24 pm |
It’s in the middle of nowhere Texas. Which is apt, really. Cause God could be/is anywhere/everywhere. The lyric strikes a chord cause many of us know that Amistad is the name of the slave ship that became the big US court case of the early 19th Century. So big Speilberg made a movie out of it. La Amistad means “friendship” in Spanish. The Fray are from Colorado, if you’re curious. C.
April 29, 2009 at 9:54 pm |
Wow, just WOW. I mean, really, I know that The Fray is probably happy that people talk about their song in such depth, but really, this song made you pray over your boys at night hoping they would become “global urban Christians”? Seriously, just enjoy a song, and perhaps maybe on a tour they got lost in Quemado, TX.
I think perhaps you’re reading WAYYYYYY too much into this.
May 3, 2009 at 9:05 pm |
[...] And also, some weird (yet interesting?? I dunno) entry about the song! [...]
September 22, 2009 at 12:38 pm |
I think that a song is personal and means something different to each individual listening to it. That’s part of the fun in creating song–letting your listeners see the relevance in their lives. If a song made someone feel blessed, thankful of his children, or found some sort of purpose for existence–who are you to simply disregard it by saying he’s “reading wayyyyyy too much into it”?