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Hospitality to the Homeless ˜ 113
But politics is not enough. We must also serve the poor with our hands and
hearts. Love builds community, and the one who loves God is one in community
with the poor.
Finally, we must love and live in a way that will help the “immature boys”
(many of whom are female) grow up. Good leadership, faithful to all people,
taking care of the weak and limiting the power of the strong, is a part of both
the biblical and the American traditions. There is no reason on earth for a city
to lack moral vision and a commitment to justice for the poor and Black. I believe
that the tons and tons and tons of bread (and money) that have come into
Atlanta since World War II have blinded and crippled our leadership. But God
is faithful and can restore sight to the blind and give to us—the flock—a good
shepherd.
Let us be neither rich nor poor. Let us have only as much as we need. Then
we can eat and dance and play at Underground with no one homeless, and
hunger will be only that rumbling we hear before we sit at table.
Woodruff Park and the Search for Common Ground,
by Murphy Davis
M a r c h 1 9 9 6
Woodruff Park is a 1.7-acre tract of land in the center of downtown Atlanta.
Like many other valuable pieces of real estate in American history, it has become
the subject of hot debate, quiet deals, great expenditure of funds—both public
and private—and has seemed to require, along the way, a military presence to
secure its function for those who hold the power and intend to define the
park’s use.
The park, formerly known as Central City Park, most recently emerged
from behind a curtain of chain link with a five-million-dollar facelift. This new
park is, more than anything else, a spot to look at. It is not a public gathering
place: indeed, there is no area of the park that encourages gathering, conversation,
play, human exchange, or interrelatedness of any kind.
While the old park never seemed like a spectacular place to me, its walkways
were wide and spacious, lined with benches and grass. People walked to
and through, stopped and talked together, waved to, and even hassled, one another.
But it was at least somewhat inviting, friendly, and spacious.