by Craig Mayes on May 31st, 2010

I have lived almost 2 years now in New York City. Before moving here I did all the typical research, looking at the numbers and demographics of the 8.3 million people who call NYC home. Once we settled here, most of my life has been spent in the Murray Hill and Gramercy Park areas of Manhattan. It's where I live, shop, run, meet in coffee shops etc. It really feels like a small neighborhood.

Of course, there are excursions every week on crowded subways and buses and sidewalks that remind me of the populations density and diversity of my city. This past Saturday, however, I took a trip on my bike with two friends that overwhelmed me again. We left Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge, over to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, then down to the Upper Harbor, along the water under the Verrazano Bridge, out to Coney Island, and back to Manhattan- 36 miles in all. If I had mounted a video camera on the front of my bike and could show you the tape, you would witness our travel though what seems like many diverse cities- almost like different countries... Hispanic, Italian, Eastern Europe, Hasidic Jews... extreme wealth and poverty, clean streets and littered roads... graffiti tattooed walls and beautiful parks.

When our ride was over, I looked at a map of NYC- all five boroughs, and traced our route. Despite the amazing visual stimulation over the 36 miles, the map told the true story- that we had ridden one thin thread through a maze of streets covering the 305 square miles of this city. Perhaps I rode by 1000's of people and had a brief glimpse of their faces- but will probably never see any of them again and will never have a conversation with them. And then comes this overwhelming thought- God so loved the world that he gave His Son... The world. All of them. He loves all of them. And once a person knows that love, he or she becomes part of God's plan to help others know his love. When all is said and done, there is no other task as important.

I don't know if you have noticed lately, but there are a lot of people out there to love, and to point toward God's love.