buzz lightyear’s words of wisdom
The days are trickling by. Some slow, some fast. I guess it’s not too bad. I’ve been helping out at our orphanage lately. The kids are learning to read (in English), and some needed some extra help. Yep, that’s my job. Personal tutor. They’re smart. All of them. They just need a little more attention. They’re so cute because they always yell the words… ” AT! CAT! SAT! RAT! BAT!” And their accents… oh my, they are just so cute. I want to take them home with me so badly, but I know they’re at that age where it would be hard for them to go to a place like America and adjust.
Adjusting. I fear it. I’ve heard that culture shock once back from a country is worse than the arrival. Yeah, I’d say that I’ve grown quite accustomed to this slow paced, personal, relational, chaotic way of life. And the chaos, I love it. I was talking with a friend of mine about the chaos of a third world country. We literally learn to thrive off of it, and when things are in order, we’re bored. We’re miserable. We’re unable to adapt to an environment of normalcy. I hate that word, really. Normalcy. It’s such a relative term, solely depending on social norms of the culture. But what I mean is normalcy of the American way.
Our way is wrong in so many ways. I’ve learned how arrogant, impersonal and selfish we can be. Our views on Christianity is a joke. I don’t know a percentage, and I’m just assuming from what I’ve seen for 23 years of my life, but I’m ashamed of the way that most Christians present Jesus to others. We’re known more for our rules than our relationship. Ridiculed for our radical faith rather than respected (in a sense that many “holy rollers” push people away from Christianity, when the way of Christ’s love could draw them in). Why does radical have to be a 24 hour prayer service with people falling out in the spirit? Why can’t it be radical generosity? Radical love?
I’m fearing this adjustment. To my home culture. I want to change it, and I want to revolutionize the way that Christianity speaks to the people. It has been detrimentally displaced, and I want to work to fix it. Mother Teresa said that you don’t have to hit the masses, just do one person at a time. If that’s what it takes. Line ‘em up. I refuse to ever be discouraged and allow the world’s antagonism slow me down from being an explosive embodiment of Christ’s character to the entire world. To infinity and beyond.
Leave a Reply