Death by Suburb
How to Keep the Suburbs from Killing Your Soul
Chapter OneThe Thicker Life
My wife and I worship at Latte Temple most Sundays before heading to church, and recently a homeless man asked for a ride to the College Avenue train station as I climbed into my SUV with two coffees worth almost $9 in hand. I told him to jump in.
"Are you headed to church?" he said. "Everyone goes to church here. I do too."
I've often thought my 'burb, located a little over twenty miles southwest of downtown Chicago, could create a tasty tagline and positioning statement for its public relations brochures: WHERE EVEN THE HOMELESS HAVE A CHURCH HOME. There appear to be more churches in my community than pizza joints. That's quite a statement, because Wheaton, Illinois, is, after all, a suburb of Chicago, home to the world's best pizza. A church building fills at least one corner of most every intersection. On Sundays, high school auditoriums are rented by start-ups. Here is no shortage of houses of worship. I'm sure there must be some pagans in our community, but nobody has seen one in years, thou ... read full excerpt from: Death by Suburb ebook
