Gaining Perspective

I was just on facebook checking messages, and I read a long diatribe by someone who often posts highly charged political views- I guess I can’t really judge how one decides to use their facebook, but it’s not exactly what I enjoy reading in the morning, especially when I wake up and see the disaster of a government I’m surrounded by here in Congo.

 
It was an interesting experience though, to read such an article.  For the last month that I’ve been in Congo, I haven’t given US politics more than 2 seconds of my thought life, or emotional energy. In fact, many things that I’m normally wrapped up in while living out my days in the U.S. seem to be nothing more than fleeting thoughts. In fact, when I think back to what I know of America, the things I come to miss are my family and friends, washing machines, and a good bowl of ice cream- these really are the only things about my home that I spend time pondering- and have very little to do with America.

I’ve realized that most of what I spend my energy on in America carries very little of my time here in Africa. I think that is one reason I love it here so much. It puts things into perspective. When your focused on providing for a community that goes without so much, even if you can only help one or two at a time, you realize that your tax differential really is not so important. When you see young adults running around with tears in their jeans that render them practically naked, and notebooks for school that are written and rewritten on so many times that there is literally no more white on the pages, when you see a 23 year old woman who looks like she is 7 because she is so malnourished, you realize that we in America have things really, really good. We have very little to complain about- yet there are people, myself included, that focus and waste our energy in ways that are ultimately not important.

I think it’s interesting how people criticize government and politics as the new religion, while a big portion of the religious are so focused on US politics that it has practically become their new religion, or at least on idol. It just seems like wasted energy to me. I think it’s interesting that Jesus rarely talked about the political structure of his time. He focused on people, and the institution of religion itself. So why is it that today’s Christians are so focused on our current political structure? Didn’t Jesus come to show love, to heal the sick, to uplift the poor, to give people hope? Why is it that in our Western world, we as Christians don’t focus on those same things? We’ve become so cerebral in our culture that we are no longer driven to action.
 
Being here in Africa has revealed my own ability to fall into this trap of cerebral living. It’s so easy to sit, point fingers and criticize. It’s really tough to actually go and do something. I’m finding it very difficult here in the interior of Congo. Every day is a struggle. There’s no day that you are comfortable. There’s little room for complacency. It forces you outside your comfort zone and into the arena. I’m finding that it’s tough, but it’s so rewarding.

I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to take myself out of my normal train of thought and preoccupations. It’s truly a gift, and I learn more and more each time I come here, how integrate that into my life back in America. It’s amazing how perspective can change how you live your life. And something I see every day here in Congo, it’s amazing how hope can save a life, or even a nation.

Comments

[Emily Shoup]

Very good points.