To love a city | Christine Cheung ‘26
T’was chilly winter evening on Rugby Road… the Horizon Fellows’ stomachs were full from Indian takeout, faces exploded with laughter, and we were all sitting there, at the table in Charlottesville to discuss loving our neighbors through place.
While most of us only have a few months left in the city since coming here nearly four years ago, I can say that Charlottesville has become home for us all. All my friends, my home on Price Avenue, and my local church community make my heart ache at the thought of leaving. This city has given so much to me. But that night, we pondered the questions: have we given to this city, and have we truly loved our neighbors within it?
Steve Holt’s The Spirituality of Placemaking reminded us that we are people of place. We are not only shaped by the places we live in, but we also affect such places. Charlottesville is not merely the city where students come to get their degrees and then fly far, far away—it is a place with a painful history, a beautiful natural environment, and deep relationship to its people. Intentionally leaning in and listening to this community to serve it and love it have taught me the importance of bringing God’s kingdom on earth where you live. The harvest is plentiful wherever you are (Matthew 9:37)! I have been unexpectedly blessed in this process. I see this city with more of God’s compassion, and I’ve witnessed His character and love so much more through it all.
With our May departures coming soon, we left the table with a conviction to steward all our gifts from God (be it our money, time, or talents) with selfless wisdom. We left repentful of the exploitative nature of our lives and hopeful to bring true flourishing. We left challenged to fight against the wave of straining individualism and toward beloved community. And come this fall, as I leave to settle down roots in D.C. for work, I pray God would help me to know, serve, and love this new place and my beloved neighbors within it.
An image from that dinner. Christine is the second from right in the back row.