Shalom Existence

A Rilo Kiley lyric, but not totally inappropriate. I have been trying to figure out some way to make this list better, or different from everything else that I seem to write, but alas, it is not working!! That’s okay. This is me. This is what I’m passionate about. This is what I do. People have pre-conceived notions and a tendecy to be selfish. It is who we are without Jesus. People also carry stereotypes. It is unfortunately the way of the world. Yesterday I volunteered at an afterschool program (a regular position for me from now on), and as I tutored a little girl in Math she turns up to look at me, her hand stretches out towards my nose, and as she touches the sparkling stud that’s in it she says “Are you Indian?”

“Well, no,” I say.

“Well, only Indians are supposed to have that.”

“No, other people can have them too,” I replied.

At this she squinched up her nose. ”I don’t think so.”

So I gave up and back to math we went. Subtracting and adding in her non-native tongue of English. She is a child, but she carries the part of the world with her that says there are things appropriate for some people, and definitely NOT for others.

So, these are things I have been mulling over lately. I have been reading Mountains Beyond Mountains . It’s been a while since a book ripped my heart out and made me want to do everything I possibly can for the greater good of those who are left behind, when many people don’t even notice they have been left behind. “There’s always been poor.” or “They need to work harder.”

In many cases, it’s just not the case. Some government angency or bureaucratic leader has tainted their homelands with SOMETHING that is an inconvenience to them, yet somehow serves the rich. This SOMETHING might be trees cut down, dams built, battles that are left to rot for decades, it varies from place to place. This is generalized, but it happens.

So, as I read this, and I read about one man who set out to change it all in one area of the world, and then expanded this mission into other areas that needed him, I became more convinced than ever of global-mindedness, the spirit of giving, and a love that flows from the heart all the way until the flow naturally ends. So, I paused, and wrote this:

It is not as if I do not realize I am a middle class American. I do. Whatever you may wish to call it, that is the blessing or curse of my birth. But as a human, a Christ follower who believes that Jesus’s humanity only amplifies the good I can do for others (in His name), I know that I cannot see myself through that lens. The only lens left for me to see myslef through then, is the lens of being a follower of Christ whose ONLY commission is to spread His love and disciple people in His way.

Reminders to self:

• Stop listening to old theologies and read the Bible!
• Stop hearing opinions and start reading facts- from this country and around the globe.
• Never think of America as the promised land, rather, start thinking about the globe as the promised people (when Christ died he died for all).
• Do not think of what you have or can have, and instead what you can give.
• Refrain from looking at politics like a game, instead, support and stand up for only those things that Jesus believed in (realizing that might not always serve your best interest).
• Don’t give up. You can make change. Every life, every person is an opprtunity. 

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