The NATO summit here in Chicago has made things just a little bit more interesting for us, though (so far) only one impromptu march has gone past our doors. Sr Frances, on a walk by the lake, saw snipers positioned on several of the buildings. More sirens sound throughout the day than even we downtown-dwellers are used to. On Sunday evening, Randolph Street (our side street) was completely blocked to traffic as a diplomatic function was held at the Cultural Center. And then there are the occasional motorcades, some as simple as a white van followed by a simple black sedan (all flashing blue lights), others consisting of five or more of those vans with black sedans in between.
The visibly increased police presence that comes with having so many heads of state in town is a real reminder to pray to the Holy Spirit to guide world leaders--these world leaders in our very neighborhood--in the paths of peace. Not just that minimal (and yet so challenging!) "absence of conflict," but (in the classic definition) a real "tranquility of order" that is not imposed; that instead arises when the conditions for human flourishing are respected.
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