Reflections on Restoring Toledo

3.14.09 From the "desk" of Jen Whipple

I had the opportunity today to be a part of an effort to clean up the east side of Toledo. My friends Erin, Ashley, Dave, and I joined other churches in the clean up. This experience was the most connected I’ve felt to the city of Toledo since I first arrived here in 2002.

I always make fun of Toledo. I mean, it’s begging to be made fun of! Our claim to fame is a cross dresser on the show M*A*S*H, a hot dog place, a minor league baseball team named after some crazy bird, a new hockey team called the Walleye (not Walleyes, but Walleye), and roads that are only drivable in the winter because the snow fills in the potholes! I have thought to myself many times: who in their right mind would ever move to Toledo? In addition to our city’s quirks, it’s not abnormal to see a homeless man riding down Nebraska Avenue (the worst pothole offender) on an old bicycle, balancing a trash bag of who knows what. All around us we see the effects of a recession on a community, and the economy here in Toledo wasn’t that great to begin with.

Despite all of these thoughts, my church, along with countless others, has decided to plant itself in the thick of this mess. We’ve taken up the call not only to be Mud Hens and Walleye, but to be Jesus to a broken city. I’ve always said that I love the fact that poverty is all around me here in Toledo; it keeps me grounded. However, if I choose, I can ignore it. I live in a nice apartment complex in a residential community. I can drive past the man on the bike and continue on to the comfort of my two-bedroom apartment where I’m guaranteed food, a hot shower, and cable TV. None of us have to mind the stains that mark the city of Toledo. We can read about it, talk about it, complain about it, and choose to be cynical about it, but that’s not doing anything. In fact, that’s the easiest thing to do! This is what I have always done- except for on this day.

Today I learned that the area I was helping to clean was where Toledo started. It was once pristine, but now has been littered by absent landlords, apathetic tenants, and victims of a bad economy. A fellow “cleaner-upper” and I discussed the beauty of one area surrounding Waite High School - it reflected what Toledo once was and what it could still be. This is also a reminder to me of the creation story. According to the Creator, everything He created was “good”. But we screwed it up. We were the pristine city at one point, but we have littered and stained our own hearts just as the apathetic tenants have their yards. Jesus was the answer to clean up this “city”. Through the cross He has offered redemption and reconciliation. We are stained by sin and littered with emotional, physical, and spiritual trash. All of this has been made clean by the blood of Jesus. 

I truly believe God wants to redeem the city of Toledo. One way to do this may be to pick up the physical trash that has plagued our streets and yards. Maybe a look at the beauty that lies beneath will renew the spirits of a people broken by bad politics, bad family life, abuse, poor education, and indifference. Maybe it will be a window into their soul, like it was for me.

When I think of Toledo, a verse from a new U2 song comes to mind, “Vision Over Visibility”. What we see can be quite ugly. It can drive us to look for more aesthetically pleasing places to live, and it can cause cynicism. But as we all know, what is seen is temporary. In Toledo we can work for a VISION of what a community should be. In this process I think we will start to look at what needs to be cleaned up within our own hearts, relationships, and the community that is the church. It’s all connected!
What I learned today is that I want to live by the vision that God has for me. And in that vision I would be remiss to neglect the city in which He has planted me in. When Jesus decides He will return will He find Toledo physically and spiritually “cleaned up?”