3rd Places

This is a special day because i turned 55 years old. Always a good time to reflect on what has gone before and what is to come! Unfortunately what is to come has past by before you realise and all you can do is reflect a bit more.

Have been talking with a friend who is going through a tough time at the moment, broken family, failed relationships and depression! But what he did say is that he is worried about what he will leave behind. He feels that he wants to make a contribution to peoples lives, invest in people because that is what will leave a lasting memory of his life. He also feels an emptyness that work, money or possessions fail to have a lasting impact.

He is so right in that we can waste so much time collecting things, that we miss out on time to collect the one thing that can have a lasting influence on others.

Following on with what I have been discussing the last few days also connects to the above. Being with other people, spending time and engaging them and so allowing Christ to speak into their lives can have a life changing effect. But first we need to be where people are, not just being there in body but present in mind and conversation. So now I would like to talk about places to be.

In a normal community most Christians will be operating much like the Good Samaritan. He didn't wake up thinking "Today I will start a ministry to Jews". He was simply being sensitive to the people God brought across his path.

Where do you normally meet non-Christians?
At the corner shop?
At the bank?
At the café?
In your neighbourhood?
At the petrol station?
When you order pizza?
At the Gym?
Your place of work

Who have we met in our suburb? An Afghan refugee, the local shop keeper, a foreign language student, local member of council and many more. I find it easiest to meet people:
in a neutral public area (like the park or outside the school) where they have time to interact
and are not already involved in a large group activity.

You may find it easier to meet people in larger groups or in more structured settings. God made each of us different.

Open your eyes and see who God leads across your path today.

Concept of "The Third Place"
According to Ray Oldernburg an American Sociologist who coined this term, third places are "distinctive informal gathering places (first being the home and the second being work).
· They make the one feel at home
· They nourish relationships and a diversity of human contact
· They help create a sense of place and community
· They invoke a sense of civic pride
· they provide numerous opportunities for serendipity
· They promote companionship
· They allow people to relax and unwind after a long day at work;
· They are socially binding
· They encourage sociability instead of isolation
· They make life more colourful

No one understands this better than Howard Schultz, founder and CEO of Starbucks. Schultz founded Starbucks on the premise that Americans are missing a third place in their lives — a place that his coffeehouses can fill. While on a business trip to Italy, Schultz discovered that Italians were living remarkably balanced lives. He was impressed by the passion they brought to their work, their rest and their enjoyment, and he noticed that a great deal of enjoyment was being found in the camaraderie and community of Italy’s 200,000 coffee bars. Because there was nothing similar in the United States, Schultz began to dream of establishing Italian-influenced third places where people could congregate. He hoped that after the first place of home and the second place of work, Americans would come to consider his coffeehouses to be their third place, a place to experience camaraderie and genuine community.He understood that in America, as well as in Italy, it’s not about coffee, it’s about connection.
That’s the Starbucks Principle. And for many, it seems to be working.

Everyone has their places in the world . . .

• Your first place is your home. It’s where you live, where you sleep, where you surround yourself with people and things that belong with you.


• Your second place is where you work. That’s where you make your contribution to society, where you build your reputation, where you try to be your best self at all times.


• But what about a third place?Is there a place where you can let your hair down and be yourself? Somewhere that isn’t home and isn’t work, a place to gather with friends and neighbors to talk about what’s happening in your first two places?

Yes, there is. Everyone has their third place, a place where they belong.
Where is your third place . . .