None of them are older than twelve. Running in the rubble and broken glass, somewhere in Tibet. There's a girl, maybe 16, crying behind her jewelry- her father on one side, her best friend holding her shaking hand on the other side. You can see she does not want to be led to this man she must marry. So many Indian girls live this life- it is their duty.There is a couple nestled on a park bench in China, holding each other for who knows how long, as an older woman knits on the other end of the bench. There's a father laying in a hammock holding his giggling little boy in the air. They are the only objects inside of four chipped brick red walls in an unspecified corner of Colombia.
Steve McCurry, world renound photographic journalist, states that he's often amazed at the fact that no matter where he goes, people are so much the same.
From looking through his impressive and seemingly endless galleries, I've come to appreciate this statement and agree with it. McCurry has been to every place I've been forced to dream of. His work portrays people and environments in ways that most Americans never think of. We are presented with these cliches and stereotypes that rule our perspectives on other cultures.
In my nineteen years of life, Asia- especially China and Japan- have been presented to me as cold, industrialized, and shallow. I've never liked their food much, and I've never really been close to any individual that has lived in that hemisphere or even descended from it. I've always found Eastern religion and faith very foreign in concept- being a Christian has removed me even further from it. On that note, being in a conservative Christian environment in America has led me to judge these cultures for their parenting styles. So many commercials, organizations, and guest speakers have ingrained this sense of how horrible these people are for abandoning their baby girls- I've considered adoption in the future, because of this situation.
Everything I've been told about the world I live in is a lie.
Every view I've had of any people group is about to change. Am I responsible for my attitude previous to this day? Perhaps. But now more than ever, I'm driven to prove myself wrong.
People are the same everywhere.
In short, God has designed us for so few simple things- the desire to love, and be loved. The need to believe in something and have faith. The drive to understand our world more, and to create (However, we fall short of God's glory, and all we can create is meaningless- buildings, phones, and cars. They are useful, but not necessary. We can only reproduce what God has already designed.). Can we agree that there is not one person who does not center their life around all of these things?
From this need for love springs romance, relationships, heartbreak, family, friendship, and every perversion thereof.
Grasping for an origin, we have stemmed into hundreds of religions and created unrest in society. We have wars based upon it. We have countries based upon it. We die based upon it.
In trying to create, we have stumbled upon painting, writing, music and singing. We've navigated, explored, delved, and cut into ourselves. We look outwardly into the galaxy, and inwardly through medicine and psychology.
Show me one culture, one race that hasn't struggled to find all of these things. In America, we are no better off. Our "Christianity" has succeeded in both shutting others out and in making itself trivial. When people other other religions encounter us, they see denominations and disagreement. Not peace, and a light that indicates truth and love that Jesus has brought to those who are willing to see and experience it.
No matter what religion or social background, people all search for themselves, and their reasons. They all laugh when they are in love. None can resist the smile of a baby, no little boy can keep himself out of the mud, and off of the field- none can make him stop running. No mother desires to give up her child.
Another photograph stays in my mind. I can't recall the location, but I think it represents a global problem: a very small girl- maybe six or seven- with jet black hair and watery brown eyes wearing a blue and white dress. She's standing in front of a man. She's holding a rifle. She's a soldier. She's not old enough to read- but she is allowed to kill.
I don't understand how this is acceptable- much less a reality- anywhere. Yet it is.
So who am I to walk out of the door of a house with air conditioning, and be aggravated by the hum of a lawn mover. I've never heard the firing of a gun, or had to drink water that wasn't crystal clear.
So why on Earth do I feel to restrained and unsettled?
The fact is that we are not only ungrateful, but we also have misplaced our values. I am fortunate as a US citizen to have an education and to have rights and property. However, these are obviously not the things that satisfy human beings. People in much greater poverty than me have much greater joy than me.
Only love, exploration, and a relationship with Jesus Christ can satisfy. My unrest will never leave except through these things that every individual craves.
"I gotta get out of here
...I'm afraid that this complacency is something I can't shake...I am a hostage to my own humanity
Self-detained and forced to live in this mess I've made...and I'm begging you to be my escape..."
-Relient K
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