Lets not be too hard on ourselves

Something that you pick up upon when you deal with the whole intercultural study and multicultural thing in Canada is that us white people in the western world don't really have much to add culturally to the world and that we should learn how to do things from others because our ways are a bit messed up. Now its true that we have some pretty messed up ideas in North America that need fixing, but apparently we got some things that we do that the rest of the world really wants. I've been talking to some people and they really like our whole idea that work is not our life. I've talked about this before, but they really like the mindset of, go to work for 8, 9 hours, work hard, then have the rest of the time to spend with friends and family. They think thats just a fabulous idea. One thing that I've been learning over the last few years is the important idea of Sabbath. Its about realizing that you are only human and that you are not able to continue on at a fast clip forever without recharging your battery occasionally. Now you don't have to get all legalistic about it, but its good to stop and take time to not work. To enjoy life. To focus on God. Good stuff we should all be doing. In coming here I've really been shown what happens when you don't take that concept into your life. People are tired all the time, they don't spend time with their families all that much. All they really know is the their life in work. They don't have the time to do the things they want to. They are not enjoying life to its fullest. They have the afternoon naps to get them through the day, but thats most likely why it came about... so that they could actually get through the day. Sure they get that nap in the middle of the day, but thats only so that they can keep on working through to one or two in the morning, only to be back working at 6 the next morning. Even with the afternoon nap, some have told me not to become like them, that I have a better way of doing things. Though they don't seem to want to change their own ways of doing things. It is most likely a fatalist attitude that things will just always be like that because they have been like that for as long as they can remember. Thats one thing I have done with some of the people that I interact with lots, people that I have formed a relationship with, encouraged them to spend more time with their family, to enjoy life more, to say that there is more to life then work. Now I say it in such a way that is not an affront to them, but in a sly sort of way. You don't get anywhere being insensitive. I think at the root of the problem is that people have accepted the idea that they are just tools and cogs in the grand machine of the economy and that they have accepted that lot in life. They think that they have to work and work and work. Thats one thing they share with us in the west - the assumption that more money means a better life. Now bellow a certain amount of income, life does suck hard, but the best things in life cannot be bought, which has been missed by so many people. Unfortunately many Christians have also missed this truth, even when it sits right in front of them when they read their Bibles. Sad. In this land that is dedicated to the grabbing of wealth, privilege and power, I've really been learning how those things really just don't matter. What is it to have a massive mansion and all the cars you could ever want when you don't have friends with which to hang out with (friends that are true friends, and are not based on anyones wealth, influence or power) or a 'significant other' to walk hand and hand with just to enjoy each others presence? It is the intangible gifts from God that make life worth living. They are what make life a joy. So it is not the eastern culture that has things figured out, nor the western culture that has things figured out, but it is only the lifestyle we find in the Kingdom of God that has it right. So let us not see the other cultures on the planet as so much better then our own, for they tend to only advertise the good parts of their culture, they have just as many faults as us, for they are fallen humans as well.


ps. Ya, people really look up to the Western world, not just because of the material wealth that we have, though that is apart of it, but they wish that they were free of the brides that they have to pay to government officials, the governments that are unresponsive to the people, social obligations that are stifling to them, and a whole host of other things. Theres a reason people say they want the freedom that we have so often, its a great thing.