The life of the Trinity in Chicago

Take care of our neighbour! I read this experience from Chicago. Why not try it! I find this really inspiring because loving God in my neigbour becomes simple with great consequences. I could call it  the life of the Trinity in Chicago!!

There were 72 block captains, each responsible for one block of North Riverside.  I thought that the block captains should try to make each block like a family, where no one would feel alone. We adapted Chiara Lubich’s points of the art of loving into four points which I called the ‘Art of Caring’. During each captains meeting, I would take one of the points and illustrate it using an experience shared with me by one of the block captains. At first, I had to use stories based on my own family or quotations from famous persons. After a couple of years, however, some of the block captains themselves starting sharing what they had done to live the points of caring.

One of the first experiences shared by a captain was about a new resident of the block whose dogs were left outside barking from early morning until late evening. Instead of complaining to the police, the captain and the neighbours tried to “love their enemies” by reaching out to dog owner, baking cookies for her and even helping her catch her dogs when they escaped the yard. Only then did they approach her with their concerns about how the constant barking was affecting the newborn baby on the block.

Not only did the mayor encourage these individual acts of caring, but he also tried to make the village itself, through the block captains, an active force for caring.  For example, the block captains give welcome bags to new residents. They take interest in people, especially those experiencing personal suffering. They send cards, bring food, listen to people’s troubles. We use our emails to communicate these needs like in a family so we are all aware of who needs help. On a regular basis, some captains even do extra by volunteering to drive people in town to doctors, or shopping for groceries for the homebound.

Just recently, we published our twenty years of experiences, also ideas for helping anyone live the Golden Rule. It was circulated among doctors, social workers, teachers and politicians as well as individuals who want to make a difference in their corner of the world. The art of caring has even been extended by North Riverside to other towns. At one of the town meetings, the publisher of the newsletter stood up and announced, “When I tell people in my town about North Riverside, they say such a town cannot exist. And I say come and see.”