Living Intentionally - Reflections by Fellow Celine Opoku '20
From someone who has moved a few times during my life, the concept of staying somewhere for more than six or seven years seemed a bit intriguing to me. I always held the notion that we weren't meant to stay in one place but to venture to others. Yet, during a recent Fellow gathering, we discussed what it meant to intentionally live in an area. This comprises genuinely getting to know your neighbors, giving back to the community around you, and living out life in a way that most individuals don't.
If you asked me the name of my next-door neighbor who lives in the house next to mine, I wouldn't be able to tell you. This is the case, despite seeing them occasionally and saying the usual, "Hello, how are you?" Our neighbor to the right of us knows us because he mows our lawn as a relaxing past time. Sadly, I cannot even tell you this man's name or his family's. Yet, when he sees me coming back from school, he'll ask me how school is going and how my family is doing.
This relation between my neighbors is indicative of how our society has become. We have become very individualistic and don't take the time or effort to get to know those who surround us. Even though they may not be in our closest circles, it's a relationship that should still be forged. The two speakers who spoke that night in February were community leaders who graduated from UVa and settled in Charlottesville permanently. They intentionally decided to live in neighborhoods that were below their income levels. That amazed me because it's unheard of for people to live in a place well below their budget. It's a bit radical, but in the proper sense of the word.
Hearing their experiences made me really think about what I saw as truly living. I always considered myself a shaker. I never imagined myself to be like Wendell Berry, who had a farm out in nature and lived his life free from the materiality and the restlessness of the world. Therefore, it really put things into perspective for me.
As I go into the next phase of life, I will always consider and be intentional about forming relationships with the individuals around me. This starts with where I live now. A community isn't merely made up of believers, but in those who live in the cul-de-sac of your subdivision, just like mine. Who knows? Your neighbors may be believers, or you can draw them to Christ, and we can encourage establishing a community with one another.