Vector

I spent an enjoyable Friday evening at my friend B--'s apartment. He not only treated my family to dinner and some great conversation, but also to a few hundred pictures of his recent journeys to Israel and Turkey. I was surprised to see that Israel was so green -- I always imagined that it was a big desert with sand everywhere. The pictures of Turkey were incredible. B-- showed us some homes that had been dug out of the rock faces of cliffs, which looked more like something out of a fantasy/sci-fi flick than something that exists on 21st century earth. I was surprised to see those pictures side-by-side with pictures from an internet cafe in the town of Urgup. Or photographs of nomadic Bedouin tribes with satellite dishes sitting outside their tents.

I remember back in elementary school when my teacher described the United States as "the great melting pot." Immigrants from many different cultures came together in a specific geographical location and formed a new culture over a period of decades. But the melting pot has given way to the global village. The Turkish may not be guarenteed indoor plumbing everywhere, but they can surf the net. Bedouins unwind after a hard day of camel herding by watching Seinfeld.

Sometimes I feel like the whole world is melting and blending all around me. In my association with the church I have been exposed to many different cultures and subcultures -- Swedish, British, Hispanic, young, old, haves, have-nots, Christian, other spiritualities, and no spiritualities. I'm also affected by the global culture that gets piped into my TV, internet, and radio. On any given day I can see live satellite pictures from the middle east, chat on the computer with people from different countries, and listen to music recorded around the world on my radio.

Each culture has it's own opinions and behaviors formed by its unique experiences. That's been a rewarding if not always easy learning experience for a middle-class white kid from Warren PA, and I know I've grown richer as a result of building these relationships. The ability of being able to see things from another point of view has made me reexamine some of my ideas and beliefs about life.

Young people tend to make decisions based on instant gratification. That's not a criticism, just an observation on life. I made decisions the same way when I was in my teens and twenties and I bet you did, too. My wife and I encourage the young people we work with to look a little farther into the future than just this school year. We make them aware that the decisions they make today will have consequences both good and bad in the future.

I was hopeless at geometry. But I do remember one thing from third period all those years ago. A vector was a change that involved both depth and direction. Encouraging a young person to look a little farther into the future will hopefully result in him being aware of the direction his life is taking. But I think it's also becoming just as necessary to encourage him to have a depth of experience with other cultures -- because how can a person have an impact on a world he doesn't seek to understand?