I Finally Realized The World Doesn’t Revolve Around Me.
Posted on 04.28.08 in Faith and there are 4 comments.
I was in college.
Up late talking with my friend Erin about all those deep things you think about when your in college.
Who likes who. How many calories the pizza had. And whether the “grunge look” would be going out anytime soon.
And then we started talking about life and our relatively recent realizations that it didn’t revolve around us. I suppose, up until that time, I had somehow thought that everyone else was simply an extra in my life - existing solely to add texture to my daily world. It hadn’t occurred to me in my previous 18 years that every other person on the planet had a life filled with complexity, just like mine.
I felt dumb that it took me 18 years to realize that.
And I feel dumb now.
Last night I read this story (HT). It’s an account of a boy in Senegal who is forced to beg. At night, he’s lucky if he has a small piece of cloth to protect him from the cold evening air. Most nights he just shivers miserably.
For some reason, it finally became real to me that there are children all over the world who are cold when they try to sleep.
It’s a simple realization. It feels ridiculous to admit. But the reality of the fact that there are children just like mine who don’t even have the luxury of sleeping comfortably wasn’t really real to me until last night.
And still...I have no idea what it feels like to be cold.
To me, cold is when I walk through the refrigerated section of the grocery store without a jacket. Cold is getting out of bed in the morning. Cold is walking into an air conditioned building on a hot day.
So last night, after I got into my bed, I left the covers off for a few minutes.
The fan was on, the air conditioning was blowing and I was cold. And I prayed.
There are 4 comments.
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The Comments:
Guess I’m a late bloomer. I was like 30 before I figured that out. At almost 41, much of that stuff still eludes me, but I’m working on it.
Apr 29, 08 at 07:57 am
I read that story on CNN last week. I was actually just telling Mrs. E about it last night. We were talking about how Vietnam is no longer allowing adoptions to the U.S. after July, because we had the audacity to claim that some of the children they were allowing to be adopted were being sold into adoption.
It is things like that which help me keep perspective.
Apr 29, 08 at 08:16 pm
WOW, what a good thing for you to share! I often forget to think about children all over the world who don’t have “simple” luxuries that we have… such as a blanket to cover up with. Thank you for the excellent post.
Apr 29, 08 at 08:31 pm
Rick,
Glad to know I’m not the only one. It’s amazing what simple things I realize for the first time each and every day…
Euphrony,
Wow. I can’t even imagine the desperation that would lead a parent to sell their child into adoption…
Christina Scott,
You’re welcome. Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment and encourage!
Via the Feed
Rick
Apr 29, 08 at 06:49 am