Cities are often seen as distinct from spiritual matters, concrete jungles that impede us from seeing the God who created nature. But the Bible is full of references to cities as though they had a soul: some express greed and arrogance and are under judgement, some express peace and justice and right living. So how do we find the spiritual in the city?

There is no doubt that issues of social justice can be traced to spiritual priorities and that these can be expressed in our cities. This can be seen in conflicts over whether a city chooses to build freeways or public transport, to build monuments or meeting places, to build prisons or put in social justice programs.

It can also be seen in how we deal with issues that impact on our local communities. It is especially evident when an area begins to decline and a sense of despair about the future sets in. How do we bring back a sense of hope? One response is to create sacred spaces.

In Philadelphia parts of the inner area have been in a severe state of decline for several decades. The rubbish is not collected as its too dangerous for those on the garbage trucks, there are no jobs and only a few shops. Empty houses are everywhere. People live in fear.

The Village of the Arts and Humanity in North Philadelphia decided to create sacred spaces by allowing the community to make murals. Here a group of angels watch over the street. No-one dares to graffiti this place.

One of the toughest characters on the street was dying from liver disease due to his heroin addiction. He began this mural ‘The Tree of Life’ to make a contribution to the community space; by the time he had finished he had received a transplant and is now the main trainer of people wanting to make their murals. Slowly the streets of North Philadelphia are being reclaimed.

When the Fremantle Gaol was closed the aboriginal community carried an effigy representing their pain through the streets to the beach, set fire to the effigy and pushed it out to sea. Not only was this a deeply spiritual act of freedom, it was expressed on a beachfront (at Arthurs Head) which is a sacred site for aborigines and Europeans (the site of Stirling’s landing). The beach was a dump for decades before a group of local artists had a dream to restore it. Now it is the site for special acts of remembrance and many daily acts of ordinary people just enjoying the place.

For any issue where the outcome seems to be set in stone, where the powerful are going to ride roughly over the weak, there is always hope in emphasizing the spiritual. For the residents of Alma Street in Fremantle the future looked bleak; they had watched the deterioration of their community as they lost houses to the adjoining hospital. How could they show the hospital that their street and neighbourhood was special? Indeed for them it was a sacred space. Then they thought why not have a service of thanks for their street. The Bishop and local clergy all came along and to their amazement 200 people prayed and sang hymns for their street. Somehow the hospital stopped the purchase of houses from that point on. As the local paper said: ‘God intervenes in hospital dispute’!

Finding hope in a city is often the way that we can see how the spiritual can enliven our human habitats. This can happen for example by acts of unselfish behaviour that inspire us to go beyond our little lives. So many ways  can be found to live out our hope which always lies beyond the immediate. But there is no doubt that hope can be found in the creation of sacred spaces – places that express our best values as a community.