I just got back from Europe 2 days ago and it was definitely an experience. There was a lot of planning that went into the Europe Trip that my dad and I underwent and a lot of it went according to plan and a lot of it didn't (i.e. we were too tired to visit some museums). In total, we covered 8 different countries (Netherlands, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Swtizerland, Lichtenstein and Austria). Everyday was a new thing, a new destination a new agenda. It was very tiring and mentally taxing but it was also a very refreshing experience.
As I finished up my Europe trip, I remembered just how much young American people fantasize and glorify Europe. We often dream of it as a place of romance or a place where there is character and history and hipster concepts. A place where everyone dresses well and where you would want to find love. I too used to think that way but after traveling across Europe, I have become very disillusioned about Europe to say the least. In it's own way, it is a very broken country with a lot of dark history but it also harbors a great deal of hope... hope to rebuild, hope to be better. People often dream of living in Europe... to that, I say that America really is one of the best places in the world to settle down. What I realized is that Americans have seriously become fattened and drunk on the concept of the "American Dream". As kids, we were taught to live with an attitude that if we want it, we can get it. However, since when has just the "thought" been enough to cause people to really strive for certain things. After having been taught to think and dream like a champion, we forget that in order for those dreams to become reality, we need to act.
This is most definitely not a criticism towards Americans with the only message being that Americans have turned into stupid, slobbering pigs. More so, it's a reminder to myself that this world is not all that willing to help me as I live my life. The illusion that my teachers up until now have been building has been deteriorating slowly and I am starting to see the world as it is and has been since the beginning of time. Just because I was born in America does not guarantee an easier way of life. What I started to see now, is that more than having the "American" perspective on things in life, it's essential to have a GLOBAL perspective. This world is moving so fast and information is accessible all across the world at an incomprehensible speed. It now makes what seemed like a vast world into a small area that is within "walking distance".
But how does this thinking fit into the Christian perspective? Aren't we as Christians supposed to be moving away from the worldly perspective? So isn't this basically all garbage? No. I think that by following the Christian perspective, we actually follow this kind of thinking on a much larger scale... So now, the world isn't an "area"... it's just a point on an infinite plane. Because our goal isn't understanding the way the world works... If we really follow the Christian perspective, then God puts our focus on the Kingdom... the infinite plane. And so this single point within the infinite becomes so small that it's (as mathematicians like to say)... negligible. God says, don't worry about this small point in the infinite... we get so tripped over this single point that we forget that there is a sea of infinite!
I am so guilty of this. I think this trip to Europe and getting a small taste of how infinitesimally small I am has thrown me out of whack and so my brain is fried and I am just all over the place mentally. I can't seem to get a grasp on reality and I got so shocked that I just started to think... what the heck is the point in all of this... But I failed to remember (and I am slowly being reminded) that that is why the gospel is so profound! Because despite the fact that we are such NOTHINGS in all of life... God has perfectly placed you, a mere electron in this infinite plane, exactly where he wants you and he has not forgotten your place in this vastness. In fact, more so than just remembering where you are, He is WATCHING you each and every moment you exist... and He adores you. He is so joyed by the fact that you are there... And so whenever we feel like our existence is so meaningless, remember that there is a God out there that has appointed meaning to your seemingly useless life and He can't WAIT till you see it, grasp it, and live it.
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