I’m a bit disturbed right now. I’m spending the morning at home, waiting for the water softener guy to come. And out back, behind the house to our south, two guys are chainsawing two perfectly good trees and grinding them up in a noisy wood chipper. This makes no sense to me. I almost went out and told them that. “Those are superb trees. Leave them alone.”

But now only stumps remain, and all is quiet.

When we moved into this house, a field was in back of our property. That afforded privacy not always available in the suburbs. But during the past six years or so they’ve been building houses in the field. One of the few lots left is directly behind us. And it looks like they’re getting ready to build.

We knew, years ago, that this day would come. So we’ve been planting trees and bushes at the back of our property, a privacy barrier between us and our eventual neighbor. We have bushes on the side of our house to shield us from those neighbors. They’ve planted similar bushes. This is the valuable function that plants provide. Welcome to the suburbs.

And now, some idiots have cut down two mature trees, two wonderful privacy barriers. What’s with that?

Then I thought of a few paragraphs I read last night in The Irresistible Revolution, a highly subversive book by Shane Claiborne which I fear will chainsaw my conscience for a long time. He said that as our culture makes personal property “private” property–meaning, our home is a sanctuary, and we don’t want to be disturbed there–then corporate meeting places become more important. Which is why we spend millions on our sacred shrines. The early church of Acts met in homes, they shared, they were hospitable. Lots of home-to-home stuff. No castle sanctuaries there. So they didn’t need separate buildings. Homes sufficed.

Claiborne writes, “So as congregations build larger buildings, gyms, and food courts, we find ourselves less likely to meet in homes and kitchens and around dinner tables. We end up centralizing worship on corporate space or ‘on campus.’ Hospitality becomes less of a necessity and more of an optional matter, a convenient privilege. On the other hand, as members open their homes and yards and share vehicles and recreation spaces, less and less corporate property is necessary.”

I suspect that the early apostles would have chainsawed those trees, just to increase their access to the neighbors.