Thinking back on the Cornwall Alliance’s 25 Days of Prayer for the Environment and the Poor, reminded me of some work I did in 2010.

As a church planter in Evanston, Illinois, I led our folks to serve as “alley sheep” (as opposed to alley cats) in the lanes beside and behind the downtown restaurants. Dumpsters were overflowing with offenses to eye and nose, and we ventured to clean things up as both a service to the community and a witness to the gospel.

Sporting our theme T-shirts, we raked and bagged refuse, slapping “Serving Evanston in Jesus’ Name” stickers on the sacks, taking them to street-side pickup points, and handing out evangelistic cards (“We’re the ‘sheep of his pasture’ . . .”) to those who asked and thanked us.

We started in the alleys, but soon moved to vacant lots, and I found myself at an elevated train station near my house. The Chicago Transit Authority had made a little park out of the site, with benches, trees, and an expanse of grass.

Alas, the customers had not taken pains to keep it attractive. So we had to suffer a depressing array of cigarette butts, plastic grocery bags, candy wrappers, frayed gimme caps, drink bottles, and the papier-mâché remnants of old Tribunes.

To save myself some bending over, I bought a spiked stick at the hardware store, and then I got to work, picking up and conversing around—a good two hours’ work. I think the finished product was a blessing to all who passed that way as they saw God’s greenery afresh in that little plot.

At the same time, I thanked God for the train that kept both the city and our neighborhood vital. I can even wax poetic over the hum, clatter, and squeal of the cars as they made their way up and down the tracks, drawing power from the third rail and using it to deliver people to a host of destinations. And I loved the energy and convenience of the shops that surrounded the station.

Why did reading about Cornwall Alliance’s Day of Prayer for the Environment and the Poor remind me of that? Because the environment isn’t just about chemicals and species, it’s also about beauty. And poverty isn’t just about hunger and disease; it’s also about blight.

There’s an aesthetic angle to both environmental stewardship and aid for the poor. Nature’s beautiful, and the poor need beauty just the same as the rich. They also both need economic development. The two enjoyments go hand in hand. Overcoming poverty helps the once poor to improve their own environments, enhancing their beauty as well as their safety and fruitfulness.

So yes, we need the urban and all that makes it cook. But we want more than to “pave paradise and put up a parking lot.” So let’s tend to our greenspaces as we take full advantage of our brick, concrete, metal, and glass. It all plays in to neighbor love.

For the 25 days of prayer, I joined the Cornwall Alliance and its friends from around the world in prayer. Going forward, I hope you will join with us too.