Just Love Sitting at the Table
If you’ve been following along with The Sacred Thread series, you know we’ve spent the last few months talking about how stories shape us...the ones we inherit, the ones we tell, and the ones we’re still writing. So, as we wrap up this chapter (and because I apparently don’t know how to not tell stories), I thought it might be time to tell ours...the story of Just Love – Greater New Orleans..or at least part of it.
Read about our “past” here and our “present” here.
What if “church” in New Orleans looked less like a place you go and more like a way you live on your block? That’s where we’re headed...a spiritual community that’s also a hub where churches, synagogues, mosques, ministries, and neighbors link arms to Just Love Greater New Orleans. We connect disconnected efforts so good work adds up, offering the backbone...grant writing, strategic planning that starts with listening, and community engagement...so love can move farther, faster, together. It looks like expanding our Little Free Libraries into the Westbank and beyond, and creating more spaces for curiosity, conversation, and belonging...rooms where questions are welcome, stories are honored, and nobody has to pretend.
And it’s personal. We’re helping people...not just organizations...figure out how to Just Love their actual neighbors in everyday life. Think porch conversations that feel like prayer, meal trains that taste like communion, and check-ins that sound a lot like hope. We offer simple, do-able rhythms you can practice this week: ask better questions, listen without fixing, meet a tangible need, and follow up. Maybe that’s stocking a nearby Little Free Library, bringing dinner to a foster family, offering a ride to a clinic, sitting with someone’s story, or just being the person who remembers names.
This kind of church, this kind of spiritual community is sustainable and sacred...rooted in the real lives of real people. Volunteers trained and trusted. Partnerships deep across traditions. A calendar shaped by what our city actually needs. Most of all, the same simple rhythm we started with...show up, listen, love...at the speed of trust. We’ve never been about flashy, but we are about being real: a community where compassion isn’t a program; it’s a practice citywide and street by street, organization to organization, neighbor to neighbor… and you to the people right in front of you.
That’s our story...at least for now. Thanks to everyone who’s helped write it so far. And if you haven’t jumped in yet, we’ve saved you a seat. Pull up a chair. The next chapter could (and will) have your handwriting on it.
On to the next chapter....
Sam
