Chase Miller - I'm one of those long walk taking, urban dwelling, blogging-for-no-good reason 20-somethings trying to make sense of things, achieve greatness, and make some kind of difference in the meantime. I was born and raised in the Greater Philadelphia Area, and am currently residing in South Philly, though I spend my weekends with the family elsewhere.
I have been working in Camden, NJ since the beginning of the summer of 2010. Continually ranked among the nation's most dangerous cities, this town of roughly 80,000 right across the river from Philadelphia has more than its share of problems. So where I come in: I started working there in mid 2010 as an urban ministry intern looking to put a summer of service under my belt. The things I have witnessed in Camden have changed me so profoundly in even a short time--all of the joy, laughter, love and exuberance mixed bitterly with fear, depression, anger (both righteous and unrighteous) and sweeping heartbreak really do something to a guy. It's all worth documenting, writing down, mentioning at the very least...and this will be my chosen medium.
Yet this isn't going to be just another Christian blog solely about social justice or the quest for righteousness in a spiritually dead and dying world. We have plenty of those, I'm sure.
Rather, it is hopefully going to be that murky washbasin, clouded by continual dumping and outpouring of honesty. Of course, I'll touch on those things at some point or another. One of my preferred topics, I'm sure, will be struggle, because I seem to go through a good deal of that in a place so fundamentally turbulent and at times unforgiving. Struggle; especially as I try to apply Isaiah 61 to my life and daily dealings.
I hope I don't get too preachy...but it's just the real stuff I'm feeling at the time, so I have a hard time apologizing.
And of course, I know I'll be getting into the lighter side of life working in Camden--those moments where I take a breath in turmoil, where I gulp down deeply that medicine called laughter that leads to ever-elusive joy.
A final thought: I read this quote in a random, overly dramatic Italian narrative piece one time in high school--or maybe it was college? Anyway, it read: "I casi della vita sono tanti"...or, "Many are the cases of life." I don't know why, but that out-of-pocket, unspectacular little phrase has stuck with me for several years now. Many are the cases of life, so much is happening to us, around us, it's just hard to know which way is up sometimes. There are so many circumstances in this life, at times it's hard to narrow it and focus on meaning or purpose. Yet sometimes I forget, it's God who gives us meaning and direction, and we never know how He's using all of these circumstances to bring us to into greatness.
So I guess you never know, the sum of these many circumstances could be the very thing that is helping us to reach our potential and have meaning and fulfillment in life.
