Pastor's Note

AROUND THE WORLD
April 6th, 2008

Next to my desk in my office, is a globe of the earth, situated within its own pedestal. I received it as a gift a few years ago. It is something I treasure and look at often throughout the day.
Many times I have consulted the globe as I try to understand world events, tracking starvation in Darfur, the location of Tibet to Nepal and India, or the proximity of Kenya to Somalia. Sadly, I often would not learn geography if it weren’t for famines, wars, and civil uprisings.
At other times, however, I study the globe and day-dream about visiting far-off lands like Tierra del Fuego, Kathmandu, Borneo, or the Galapagos. There’s so much out there, and I will never be able to see it all in one lifetime.
Mostly, though, I look at this replica of the earth and marvel how much we citizens of the world are connected. What I have learned is: parents in all nations love their children; people everywhere grieve the loss of their loved ones; most folks search for meaning in life; many suffer through each day just to survive to another day; and so many of the victims of warfare are the innocent ones who neither wage wars nor reap rewards from victory.
Maybe that is why I find myself praying as I slowly spin the globe. The billions of people living on the continents represented by this circular map of the world are all individuals, persons beloved by God. In our prayer for them, may we come to care for them as well!