Sometimes, in the face of trying to preach the gospel to all nations or save the earth from the global warming or eliminate world poverty or foster peace in the Middle East, I feel a little small and inadequate. (Understatement of the year!) Ever feel that way yourself?
Most of us want to be part of something bigger than ourselves, but the very bigness of it sometimes makes having a meaningful contribution a little challenging. Heck, I feel this way at my own church a lot, being just one person among a congregation of more than 3,500.
The answer, of course, is to break it down, creating small attainable goals that join with everyone else’s small attainable goals to effect real change. Occasionally a visionary comes along who has a big enough influence and a large enough wallet who can make a difference on a global scale (like Bono or Bill and Melinda Gates), but even then, their contribution is only as good as the millions of people they motivate to take action. And most of us fall into the “millions of people” category.
When we break it down, we realize that the best thing we can do for global warming is ride our bikes sometimes instead of driving the car (eliminating America’s addiction to fossil fuel happens one commute at a time). To save the world, we have to meet our neighbors (you don’t even need a plane ticket). And if there is ever going to be peace in the Middle East, it’s going to happen only when you forgive your best friend from college.
Here’s how Wendell Berry says it:
“One cannot live in the world; that is, one cannot become, in the easy, generalizing sense with which the phrase is commonly used, a ‘world citizen.’ There can be no such thing as a ‘global village.’ No matter how much one may love the world as a whole, one can live fully in it only by living responsibly in some small part of it. Where we live and who we live there with define the terms of our relationship to the world and to humanity. We thus come again to the paradox that one can become whole only by the responsible acceptance of one’s partiality.
“But to encapsulate these partial relationships is to entrap and condemn them in their partiality; it is to endanger them and to make them dangersous. They are enlivened and given the possiblity of renewal by the double sense of particularity and generality: one lives . . . at home and in the world. It is impossible, for instance, to conceive that a man could . . . love his own place in the world and yet deal destructively with other places.”
The thoughts on forgiving our friends leading to peace was great food for thought
For now — I know what you mean about global warming being far from your mind. We just got six inches of snow last night and the temperature hasn’t been above 10 for a while!
What you’re saying here is right on with what I was trying to communicate. I think capturing this sense of smallness/bigness in all areas of our lives puts us in a proper perspective. We’re creatures, not the creator. This statement by Berry, “We thus come again to the paradox that one can become whole only by the responsible acceptance of one’s partiality” is so true in my heart.
And yet I want to be an autonomous whole too often . . .
Hey!! I forgot to mention – the reason global warming is not on my mind is because it’s been below zero the last couple of days and it snowed all today. “To save the world, we have to meet our neighbors. And if there is ever going to be peace in the Middle East, it’s going to happen only when you forgive your best friend from college.” I am right on with this, though! Talk to me in July about global warming!
OK, so I have read this three times now and don’t know how to respond. I guess I just wanted to let you know I’ve been here, more than once! Some of the statements you make have been on my mind lately, not regarding global warming though. “I feel a little small and inadequate…Most of us want to be part of something bigger than ourselves”…..My thoughts have been about ministry and what is my part in Kingdom work. So, these thoughts of yours have reminded me that every little bit that we do for the glory of God matters. It doesn’t need to be and usually isn’t BIG, but it has to be done faithfully because when it is done for the LORD it is “bigger than ourselves”. Thank you for this thoughtful post.
Charity, Good thought. I do believe that we must start where we’re at, if we really are concerned about the plight of the world in general. Then, of course, it has to become specific. Otherwise it’s nothing but theory without practice, of course.
Christianne — So true about the media spin. I feel overwhelmed too. I think that’s one of the things I like best about National Public Radio. I love that they report on a problem by talking to one family experiencing it. Today, I heard a piece on “Day to Day” about one family in California that has removed themselves from the power grid and are living green. Hearing their story gave me hope.
Laura — Good balance. I love Berry so much I am at times enraptured while I read, but even as I typed the last sentence in that quote, I could think of examples to the contrary. I think you’re right in that the key is in the word “love.”
I like Berry’s last comment about how we can’t deal destructively with other places if we love our own.
Still, there’s something called “scope of justice” that I’ve read about. We are capable of loving what is “our own,” and capable of destroying what is “other,” by virtue of drawing that insider/outsider circle.
Of course, there’s that nagging question… are we truly loving what’s “inside”? For, if we did, maybe it would change how we draw those circles.
I love these thoughts, Charity. They’re in line with Al Hsu’s and Laura’s recent posts on what to do with $100. They’re also in line with what I’ve been wrestling with all week. There’s so much media spin on everything, I fall into paralysis just listening to the news about the Middle East. I don’t know who to believe, and I start to feel like the world is coming to an end while we’re going about our silent, daily lives. And I wonder what I can do about it. I can’t do government. I can’t do media (and have no desire to). I can’t save the world by myself. But I can love my neighbor. I can feed the poor. I can listen to someone who needs to talk. And as Jesus comes to earth through these tiny moments each one of us allows into the world through us, His kingdom grows a little closer home.