I was reminded yet again last night the incredible power and importance in staking your flag into the ground and proclaiming “I am here now“. The willingness to be present where you are at has not only become counter cultural but it has become, what I would consider, a dangerously ignored way of living. Too often the geographical disparity between where we live, work, and play is such that we are left as scattered people living in five different relational and geographical spheres in a scatter-brained sort of way that does not cultivate a soil that is fertile for rootedness and growth both for individuals and as a community.

After laying on my back for what’s felt like weeks (has it been?) last night was my one last hurrah as I spent too much time at one of downtown Vancouver’s pubs for a birthday party and fund raiser for one of Vancouver’s finest. By the time I got home (after a couple of hours) I could barely move and my chest, leg, and sides were swollen and hard as a rock (though with all my normal exercise  this is pretty typical I’m sure…riiiight…) but what a way to enter into my final day of waiting for this surgery! I looked around this pub and saw person after person after person who were not just a part of an actual community, but people who had gone through a conversion of place. These stories are not mine to tell, at least not here, but they are powerful stories of individuals who have found new life because they (for different reasons) were able to lift their head up in downtown Vancouver and see the people around them. I probably should rephrase that somehow because I don’t think it usually happens on ones own. I don’t think the redemption stories of place often happen through one standing up straight and walking differently but rather it happens as one person catches the gaze of another and draws that persons eyes up to the place where they are at. Metaphorically we spend much of our time where we live, work, and play with our heads down. But the rockstars I spent time with last night had their heads lifted up (in one way or another) and are finding significance, meaning, and a life of sacrifice for the sake of others. They’ve had a conversion of place. I’m glad that place is downtown Vancouver. And while I absolutely love downtown Vancouver I don’t think it actually has anything to do with this specific place. If I lived in Camas I would hope to be able to be a part of the same conversion experience. It’s not just about the uniqueness and specialness of a place, it’s about the belief that there is something special about each and every person–that a place is simply a gathering of individuals–and that as we collectively lift our heads up and say I am here now we are actually recognizing the presence of each other.

So be present where you’re at. Be here now.