Chicago's Hope at the Hot Chocolate Run

Chicago, Nov. 5, 2023

This morning’s waking was amazing. Dave and I are in Chicago after a fantastic moving concert by Loreena McKennitt. We wake to a sunrise coming over the lake. Watching people gather for the hot chocolate 5K/10 K in the morning. All of those people, all out in the crisp 40° weather, all enjoying the sunshine as the world awakes. It’s 6:30am.

I’m intrigued by the circle of people at the start line of the race in front of Buckingham Fountain. They will finish exactly opposite the fountain in front of the Lake on Lake Shore Drive. They’re doing jumping jacks they’re stretching, they are forming a circle as though they all are part of a team. Each one of them comes from their own place, from their own direction, yet joining a circle of community that brings them all together by Hobby.

What is it in us that craves and searches for a sense of belonging, familiarity, and connection with one another? Could be our Creator living through us, in our veins as our heart pumps, as our brain thinks as they warm up for the morning’s challenge.

The Gospel of John, chapter 13, advises “love, one another,’ continuing into chapter 15, ‘that your joy may be full.’ Could it be we were created for just this kind of connection? This connection brings with it the joy of connecting with strangers who just so happen to be like me in some small way.

One runner I talked to told me she loves the crispness of the morning, venturing out for a run, knowing she’s going to meet so many, knowing the day is coming alive, knowing that she’s coming alive as the day dawns anew.

The Chicago we hear about in the news is a frightful scary place—one where there are all kinds of human atrocities and politics running rampant. And I’m not saying that in part that isn’t so.

But this morning, this morning I saw a beautiful Chicago with an amazing sunrise coming over the Lakefront and Grant Park. An amazing Chicago with hundreds maybe thousands of people coming out to join in the community, to do jumping jacks in a circle at the start line of a ‘Hot Chocolate run’. I’m reminded of the Chicago I knew in my childhood.

I wanted to call these photos, Chicago, a New Hope. But really… These photos show a Chicago with thriving people. A reminder of who we are now, not who we once were. We’re Chicago, these in today’s race are Chicago’s hope.