With Argentina and the US playing tomorrow, I'm a bit scatterbrained as I write this post. I originally composed it as a to-do list for how to enlarge your perspective, and perhaps soon you will be treated to a light dose of my sage, 23-year-vintage advice (spoiler: learning another language is on the list). But for now you'll have to settle on the following realization:
My world is big.
I'm not talking about "the" world, this spinning orb of some 7,243,262,762,137 human inhabitants (based on this cool estimate). I'm not talking about the World Cup. No, I'm talking about my world and yours: my place and the things and people that make it home, my job, my stresses, my worries and dreams. The very things that look small and insignificant when I start comparing my life to someone else's. Sound familiar, facebook?
My world is not big because I live in Argentina or because I can speak another language. It's not big because I read good books or have a bachelor's degree or friends from other cultures that daily challenge my definition of what is normal or important. It's not big because I have the opportunity to travel or no ring on my finger.
Don't get me wrong: the things above are awesome. Why else do you think people in my generation get a kick out of doing whatever it is we're doing in wherever parts of the world we send pictures from? It's fantastic. While these things have certainly have made my world larger, they're not what made it big in the first place. My world- and yours- are big for one reason...
In Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth...
(In The Dalles and in all Oregon and Washington, and to the end of the earth...)
My world is big because of Jesus, who somehow managed to influence the world with 12ish proteges while never leaving a region that can be driven in less than a day, and who still manages to impact people over 2000 years after he was supposed to stay dead. My world is big because He said to go. Go to the "smoker tree" and share gum with the dropouts. Go to Durand Hospital and talk with the impatient patients. Go to Fred Meyers. Go to Palermo. Go to work. Go to your neighbor's.
Go. That is how a world gets big.
My world is big.
I'm not talking about "the" world, this spinning orb of some 7,243,262,762,137 human inhabitants (based on this cool estimate). I'm not talking about the World Cup. No, I'm talking about my world and yours: my place and the things and people that make it home, my job, my stresses, my worries and dreams. The very things that look small and insignificant when I start comparing my life to someone else's. Sound familiar, facebook?
My world is not big because I live in Argentina or because I can speak another language. It's not big because I read good books or have a bachelor's degree or friends from other cultures that daily challenge my definition of what is normal or important. It's not big because I have the opportunity to travel or no ring on my finger.
Don't get me wrong: the things above are awesome. Why else do you think people in my generation get a kick out of doing whatever it is we're doing in wherever parts of the world we send pictures from? It's fantastic. While these things have certainly have made my world larger, they're not what made it big in the first place. My world- and yours- are big for one reason...
In Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth...
(In The Dalles and in all Oregon and Washington, and to the end of the earth...)
My world is big because of Jesus, who somehow managed to influence the world with 12ish proteges while never leaving a region that can be driven in less than a day, and who still manages to impact people over 2000 years after he was supposed to stay dead. My world is big because He said to go. Go to the "smoker tree" and share gum with the dropouts. Go to Durand Hospital and talk with the impatient patients. Go to Fred Meyers. Go to Palermo. Go to work. Go to your neighbor's.
Go. That is how a world gets big.
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