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What happens if communities bury philanthropy and double their talents.....? And unto one he gave five talents…..and straightway took his journey….Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents….Saying, Lord…..I have gained beside them five talents more.... (Matthew 25:14–30 (KJV) There are those who give little of the much which they have....And there are those who have little and give it all.  -- Kahlil Gibran

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.... (Isaiah 58:12 KJV) " I don't have any money, but I don't come begging." This was the statement uttered by Hazel Mack to Mr. Butler in 1995, in her quest to obtain land in East Winston, on which to house the Carter G. Woodson School. What started out as a quest wanc

You delight in laying down laws, Yet you delight more in breaking the m. ...Like childre n playing by the ocean who build sand-towers.....But while you build your sand-towers the ocean brings more sand to the shore.... But what of those to whom life is not an ocean, and man-made laws are not sand-towers...... -- Kahlil Gibran As they descended, I reached up in amazement to touch the clouds all around, only to realize I was grasping at water formed from puddles on the ground.

Of all the places a treasure did lie, The mite of the Widow did catch God’s eye;      Those hands made fragile of life’s pain, Did pitch it all without the feign                          Of glorious materialistic living;  A simple act of the greatest giving,                Upon a pot of eased placed wealth; She heard a call for communal health, To reach into her deepest dell, And give of it so all were well; Of all the places a treasure could be, The mite of the Widow r

A Letter of Statement -- (Prologue: Communities as “Congregation”) Growing up in a Pentecostal church, I was taught, the lessons of the Gospels of Jesus were lessons in individual spiritual preparation for a life beyond this practice of life. But what of this particular practice of life? How can people think beyond this life, while being bombarded by acts of living? Further, how can they do this outside of communities of environments that encompass and shape their lived exper

These blog series invite you to explore how land, faith, and community come together to shape a more just and regenerative East Winston. Each month, we will share reflections, essays, and voices from the ground that center environmental and spatial justice – especially as they connect to the Brownfields land development on 32+ acres in East Winston.