thinking about my little world...

It's Summertime....and it's so very hot and sticky here in La.!!! There's certainly a part of me that's very comfortable and "at home" in the Southern heat! but still, this is good weather to stay inside and be thankful for air-conditioning! Truth is, i spend way more time inside than i would like....it's difficult to leave Mom for very long and there's lots to be done to keep things running in this home....

sometimes, i definitely chaff at all my inside time....i miss the days of carefully planned out subdivisions and beautiful city parks...*sigh* (trivial, i know) 
And it may not be to my own benefit, but my mind has been pondering some related bigger ideas.....
~how does one keep a "wide-looking" kind of mind while living a pretty small life?
~how does one live a rather "self-contained" sort of life without retreating into self-isolation or self-indulgence?

The World is so very big.....

....but it feels smaller than ever because of how we're all linked through technology. And across the planet, we're so alike in so many way....but yet our frames of reference remain so different. i love reading and watching how people live and think in other corners of the world...it helps me realize how many opinions there are on any number of subjects...and helps me see how i might very well not be all right in my ways of thinking. (imagine that!!)  Today i heard a journalist being interviewed about his coverage of some of the protests occurring in Yemen. Only a few women were allowed at the protests and they were sequestered in a "safe" location in the larger crowd. He spoke with a woman who holds a Doctorate degree and teaches at a university...but who was completely veiled except for her eyes. Her words : "Just because my body is veiled doesn't mean my mind is veiled." Powerful words! Sometimes i wonder how responsible we are for keeping our minds & our hearts veiled : because it feels safer, because it requires energy & effort to think differently, because we don't trust ourselves (or God) enough to live free of the constraints placed upon us by others....

Self-containment can be a good thing (thank God as an only child i learned how to independently interest and entertain myself...it doesn't take much for me to be happy!:).....but at the same time, if we're left to just think & live any way we jolly well please (without considering the input or needs of others) we're likely to have a wasteful & unproductive existence. (not to mention one that glorifies self and not God!!) This is especially a risk for those of us who are single, i think....but certainly doesn't only apply to us. Plenty of married folks become so fixated on an idealized family life that it risks becoming an isolating idol to them. On both ends of the spectrum, we need each other....we're created to be unique & strong individuals; so that, together, we can be strong communities. So, while (most of the time) i feel just fine with myself and my place in my own little world...i'm striving to stay aware of how i fit into the larger puzzle, striving to not make my little kingdom the only one that matters, striving to be aware of the needs and hurts of others (near & far away).

Does any of this rambling offer logically-defined answers? probably not! but these few thoughts are what's on my mind and how will you know them unless i share?!:)

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." 

(Marcel Proust)


"We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God." 
           (John Stott)