Learning from Children

The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
   before you were born I set you apart;
   I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

“Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. – Jeremiah 1:4-8

Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 1-2; 1 Timothy 3

When you want to learn something new how do you seek out information? Maybe you go to the library and get some books (if you’re old school like me), or perhaps you just google the topic on your phone or computer. Maybe you ask your friends and mentors? All of these seem like very logical options.

But I’d like you to consider another source of knowledge that could be more powerful than all of those combined.

Children

When I was in Brazil back in 2001 I learned so much from the kids that I met. 

The Ultimate Teamwork

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Romans 12: 3-5

Today’s Reading: Psalms 84-86; Romans 12

When I was younger I had visions of changing the world.

Even as a child I sensed that there were so many things wrong. As I grew up and learned more about what was happening around me I realized that I had a very privileged childhood. I had parents who loved me and friends who cared for me. I was getting a good, private education in a city with a  public school system that was one of the worst in the nation. I was healthy and I never once wondered where my next meal would come from.

So many people don’t have it so good and I wanted to change that. When I got to college and studied abroad in Brazil I saw that the problem was way bigger than I ever imagined it.

This really troubled me. How was I supposed to fix everything that was wrong in the world? I spent many sleepless nights trying to figure it out.

How foolish was that!?

Ok… foolish may be the wrong word but there is something very arrogant about it. Taking on that burden presupposed that I could possibly be equal to the task. I know now how absurd that is.

No one person can change the world. But there is something that each and every one of us can do. We can do our part. And if we all do our part we can work as a team to change the world.

That’s what I get from the passage above. For some of us, doing our part is going to school and studying so that we have the best chance possible to make a difference in the future. For others it is smiling at the strangers we encounter in life. Perhaps it is that smile that sparks a stranger to do something that really makes a difference. Or perhaps you are that stranger. Perhaps you are the one who has the silver bullet that will tackle one of the major problems of our time.

But regardless of your role, no one is better than anyone else. Every single task is important. Every person is valuable. Sure, if we don’t step up to our specific task then maybe someone else will do it, but that creates a burden that is too heavy for another to carry.

We are each built for our own purpose, not to fulfill our own and the next man’s.

If there is one thing that you remember long after you read these words I want it to be this.  We must all do our part. Whenever you get that feeling inside or that little voice tells you to do the unthinkably loving action that you never would do on your own, do it. When you feel the burning fire of an unrealized dream burning deep within your soul, do it. If you see a stranger on the street and feel moved to smile and say hello, do it.

It is in these moments of spontaneous love that our purpose manifest right before our eyes.

Seize the day! Do it now before the sun sets.

And for everything that is out of your control, don’t worry about it. You can only do what you can do. Leave the rest up to someone else on the team. 

Remembering 9/11, Remember to Love

I read this fantastic article this morning about 9/11 and it made me think of where I was on that fateful day. My mind went back to another time and place far from here but close to my heart.

I was in Fortaleza Brazil.

My great friend Kieran and I left the US on September third 2001 to begin our study abroad semester in Brazil. I remember feeling a mixture of happiness, excitement and fear as I headed to a land where I didn’t speak the language or know the people.

I decided to go there because Brazil has the largest population of black folks outside of Africa and is second only to Nigeria in having the largest population of black folks in a single nation. I wanted to see if our common ancestry as people of African Descent would lead to a common bond.

I had no idea that my world and the world as we knew it would be turned upside down in eight days.

The first week there was spent in orientation. The program focused on social justice so we spent that week reading about the different inequalities in the world. We read and discussed everything from inequalities of power, consumption of resources, poverty, and politics. On September 10^th we talked about what our role would be in helping to make the world a better place. It is our responsibility to help bring balance to the world. If we don’t do it, someone else will.

Then BOOM… the towers were hit.

As I sat there, watching the towers fall, live, on international news from thousands of miles away, I wondered what we as a country would do. Would we seek revenge and attack whoever we thought was responsible? Or, would we use this as an opportunity to seek understanding about why folks might sympathize with these attacks; regardless of how wrong they were.

Of course the rest is history.

Today, nine years later, a small church in Florida has decided to make an international statement by burning Qurans. There are many folks around the world who are infuriated by this. They not only blame this church but also our entire nation and my faith for this act of violent disrespect.

Of course as Americans we know that this is a very small group of people with very radical beliefs. We know that they do not represent the values of a majority of US citizens. Sadly, we cannot control how the acts of a few people are received by others. The US and Christianity have been smeared with the blame reserved for this small, socially irresponsible church.

But is this surprising? Didn’t many of us do the same thing? How many of us looked at Muslims differently based on the acts of the terrorists on 911? How many of us felt a twinge of fear when we were on a plane with folks that we thought were from the Middle East? How many of us treated Muslims as enemies when those particular people had done nothing to harm us?

We all must try hard to view the world and others through the loving lens of graceful forgiveness. We must try to remember that the acts of a few people, or even the acts of powerful organizations, do not represent the hearts and minds of everyone they claim to represent. We must try our best to give everyone a chance at love, a chance at peace, a chance at redemption.

After all… that is what we want right? We all want the chance to be viewed by the content of our character, not by the actions of another.

So on this important day let us remember to honor the sacrifices of all of those who have suffered as a result of the attacks and the wars that followed. But let us also remember to love.

Love is the answer. It is the only path toward peace.