Lawrence is a microcosm — a miniature version of a much larger, even more eclectic community.

Lawrence also sits “close to the land” — an image of something much larger than the city itself. For example, as I drive from home to my office, I bypass fields still cultivated by small-acreage farmers. I experience wetlands teeming with wildlife and native vegetation. I glimpse the edge of Native American sacred soil, marked by the layout of a sacred circle — the medicine wheel. I pass through a small city’s artistic and historic downtown. I traverse a river whose banks house nests of majestic bald eagles. Simply driving to work, I am reminded of the broad range of environmental, spiritual, economic, recreational, commercial, political, domestic and religious interests of my own town.

Long O'Neal

This town, small enough to offer me daily experiences with familiar faces, is also large enough to provide me access to a much more expanded world. Through the diversity of peoples, families, communities, histories and traditions, I may tap into all they represent. I can breathe in the air of this particular microcosm, taking in as much as my own capacity allows.

Lawrence invites a certain intimacy. If I pay attention, I can sense how the community affects me, and I the community. I can detect the places and situations that invoke my particular, responsible participation. I can experience outcomes of my own activities and contributions. I can experience the reward of playing an active role in my community.

This up-close interaction with a town — her place, her people, her land — has profound spiritual implications. This town allows me a taste of diverse beliefs and believers. It also calls me into accountability for the health of the microcosm itself. I cannot enjoy the abundance of the outlying prairie without remaining keenly aware of my role in its preservation. I cannot drive through neighborhoods of poverty and remain blind to the needs of their residents. I cannot consume the services of my town without participating in the provision of those services. I cannot interact with the citizens of my town without being touched by their lives and their stories. I cannot enjoy the diversity and richness of my town without supporting difference and encouraging the healthy interactions of her people — with each other and with the town itself, this microcosm.

The Rev. Judy Long O’Neal is pastor at Centenary United Methodist Church and co-director of Martha & Mary’s Way, a Lawrence ministry to women.