The World is Waiting
The world seems to me like an ethereal, strangely beautiful place, with mysteries waiting for me to discover and adventures waiting to be had. Nothing compares to the feeling as I step off a plane in a new place, my hands gripping my backpack straps, my glowing eyes betraying my tourist's heart. Art, philosophy, geography, architecture - every place has something new to share with me. The sweet-smelling breeze off a clear blue ocean, the majesty of a range of snow-capped mountains, the chill of dew on my face after a night spent outside, or the feel of a strangers breath on my neck as we press together in a crowded city - these are the feelings of freedom, of being breathlessly alone in such a big, big world. There is something so exciting to me about going, and I want to go everywhere.
If travel was free, you'd never be able to find me.
God has given me many opportunities to travel in my life. From family vacations to study trips abroad, I have been blessed to be able to cultivate my love of adventure. But one of the biggest things that draws me to a new place is the people.People are struggling everywhere. And it is so interesting to me that through every culture, every kind of people, we are still the same, deep down. Under the surface, under all of the issues that divide us, we are all just people, each with a story, each trying to survive in this ethereal, strangely beautiful, cruel world. Part of the beauty of the world, part of its allure, is the darkness and brokenness that seeps into every part of life. Every country, every town, every person has it's own darkness, from east to west, from third-world to first-world. The world is cursed, and the more I travel, the more obvious it becomes.
Beauty in Darkness
The darkness of the world is not beautiful in and of itself. A solid black canvas is not art. A book with ink splattered all over it's pages is unreadable. The cruelty of our beloved earth is only beautiful because of what comes out of it. For example, I think that World War II was a very interesting, beautiful era - not because of the horrors that happened during that time, but because of the hope that came out of it. Countries came together, families were united in love and grief and trial. This happens all over the world. People find hope in hard times. It's miraculous.
Literally.I'm not trying to make light of suffering. There is suffering in this world that is indescribable, and I pray for the people who have to go through that to find strength in Christ. And when they do, I see a beauty that is incomparable.
It is times like this that unite all of us. There is a depth to human beings that goes beyond gender, beyond race, and that uniting chord is a complex term simply referred to as humanity.
Our humanity.
Before the curse of this world, before this world was evil and cruel, we were created to be relational. We come together because we need to, because we cannot survive without each other.
Togetherness
What is equality?
Equality, simply defined, is "the state of being equal". People today take that to mean "the state of being treated equal". We are different. We shouldn't treat everyone exactly the same. That would kill all sense of originality, of art, of creativity, of differentiating between good and bad, right and wrong. There is nothing wrong with treating each other differently. But we have to treat people with fairness and kindness.
The beauty of the world can only be found when people lay aside their differences and choose to love one another, as Christ loves us. "For God shows no partiality (Romans 2:11)" and we should not presume to, either. Partiality is a symptom of arrogance. Racism is a symptom of arrogance. Disrespecting the opposite gender is a symptom of arrogance.
And arrogance is a symptom of being lost.
I am tired of people marching for causes and being violent towards police officers. I am tired of kids walking out of schools in protest but continuing to disrespect their teachers, their parents, their friends. I am tired of people who fight for equality without knowing what it is, who go back to their lives with the proud feeling of having done "some good" but never intending to make a true life change.
Change starts with us. We can't change the world if we don't change ourselves first. And the only way we can do that is to entrust our lives to the Holy Spirit, because alone, we will always, always, end up right back in the same place. Right back in the darkness, reading a book with ink splattered all over it that means nothing to us.
Change starts with us.
But change is only made possible through Christ.
If you don't believe that, you are trusting in an empty hope. That's like trying to fly across the world using a helium ballon. Eventually, it's going to break, and the shreds of your hope will come crashing down around you.
No Partiality
Behind this struggle for equality is the real problem, the problem of sin. No matter how many people march on Washington, no matter how many kids walk out of schools, no matter how many bloggers write about their views on the issue, we will not be able to truly fix the problem without God's help. We think so highly of ourselves, humans. Pride is a worldwide trait. But we can't fix everything. We can hardly fix anything, really.
When I look at the world, in all of its beautiful darkness, I can't help but dream about the day when Christ will unify everything and everyone, when he will create a new earth, in which the sickness and depravity and cruelty that we see today will be an all-but-forgotten thought in the annals of our history. Maybe we won't even remember it. But for now, we struggle. We struggle for equality. We struggle for peace. We struggle for hope.
