As our nation celebrated Independence Day this month, our blog highlighted the various kinds of Freedom that we pursue for ourselves and for one another. We bonded together as a staff team at an Indians baseball game. On the blog, we learned more about The Julian Center and their commitment to protecting victims of domestic violence and assault, giving them the opportunity to move forward in their lives, free from fear.

And that’s the paradox of being human. We love freedom—but we use it to enslave. Today’s freedom fighter is tomorrow’s oppressive dictator. We are “bent,” as C.S. Lewis put it, towards destruction and we use our power to take it away from others. Not only do we enslave others, but also we allow ourselves to be enslaved by meager things. I rush around, looking for something else to occupy my time and entertain me and fulfill me and satisfy me. We enslave—we are enslaved.

This month we contemplated the idea of "Refuge": Refuge from domestic abuse and sex trafficking, refuge in our country for immigrants, as well as the refuge of a home through the assistance of organizations like Indianapolis Neighborhood Housing Partnership. We also asked you to follow us on Instagram @NCLegalClinic and submit photos that embody the term "Refuge" to you using the hashtags #Refuge #MyClinicStory #StoriesOfJustice. In the past few weeks, we have received lovely contributions, some of which can be seen in the collage above, by people like Raina Armbruster, Emily Yarman, Seth Utter, and Angie Simmons.

We all long for home. But, this side of paradise, we all are homeless, restless. St. Augustine famously wrote in his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” Augustine hit on something profoundly human here. Whether we are homeless or have lived in the same house for forty-seven years, there is a restless striving that is baked into life.

This final month of spring, we considered our role in the community and the role of community in our lives. We learned about various problems such as vacant housing and veteran homelessness that are affecting Indianapolis, as well as the programs and organizations that are trying to combat such issues. To introduce the Legal Clinic more fully to the city, we hosted our first monthly community prayer meeting and the second annual Jazz for Justice event.

Community is true when it is gritty and glorious; sacrificial and satisfying; when it is a fellowship of “differents” gathered around a shared vision of justice, a shared Savior. But we must come expecting to be poured out, to sacrifice. If I seek fulfillment in community, I will leave empty. If I seek to be emptied for the community, I will find fulfillment.