A brief thought of mine recently...
As a college graduate taking on a year of being a volunteer, I was putting off ‘real life’: a career, paying rent, settling down, etc. I was choosing instead to participate in a one year volunteer program in South America. Then, I would come back to the states, have it all figured out, and get a job. I would begin in the ‘real world’, outside of the bubble of my volunteer year. But, the more I’ve thought about it, the more I think that I have it backwards. In the United States, we live a privileged life compared to the rest of the world. Our lifestyle is unique, not the norm. So instead, I would argue that the ‘real world’ may be the world that billions of people live in that is outside of the United States.To live that life, then, is to be a part of the world of poverty. It is to live in a constant battle against illness, corruption, death, and the vicious cycle of poverty.
And, living amongst the reality of poverty, I have felt more alive than ever before. What’s more real than sharing in brokenness and in joy? Than sitting with the struggles and suffering of loved ones? Than growing and sharing in faith together in community? Than loving with all your heart? Than bearing witness to the face of Christ?
Then I thought, maybe what I’m doing right now might be as ‘real life’ as it ever gets for me. I’m not saying that we can’t live a full and very ‘real’ life in the United States. It has just become very obvious to me that I have never felt so fully alive as I do here, ironically, bearing witness to poverty and suffering.
For me, it is not a question of beginning ‘real life’ when I go back home, it’s already here. It is a question of how to continue living a life that is fully alive, and fully aware of reality.
As a college graduate taking on a year of being a volunteer, I was putting off ‘real life’: a career, paying rent, settling down, etc. I was choosing instead to participate in a one year volunteer program in South America. Then, I would come back to the states, have it all figured out, and get a job. I would begin in the ‘real world’, outside of the bubble of my volunteer year. But, the more I’ve thought about it, the more I think that I have it backwards. In the United States, we live a privileged life compared to the rest of the world. Our lifestyle is unique, not the norm. So instead, I would argue that the ‘real world’ may be the world that billions of people live in that is outside of the United States.To live that life, then, is to be a part of the world of poverty. It is to live in a constant battle against illness, corruption, death, and the vicious cycle of poverty.
And, living amongst the reality of poverty, I have felt more alive than ever before. What’s more real than sharing in brokenness and in joy? Than sitting with the struggles and suffering of loved ones? Than growing and sharing in faith together in community? Than loving with all your heart? Than bearing witness to the face of Christ?
Then I thought, maybe what I’m doing right now might be as ‘real life’ as it ever gets for me. I’m not saying that we can’t live a full and very ‘real’ life in the United States. It has just become very obvious to me that I have never felt so fully alive as I do here, ironically, bearing witness to poverty and suffering.
For me, it is not a question of beginning ‘real life’ when I go back home, it’s already here. It is a question of how to continue living a life that is fully alive, and fully aware of reality.
