Kenya - GRATITUDE

GRATITUDE

One of the things i like about cross-cultural experiences is how much it shows me that i have been molded by a certain culture. More pointedly, american culture. We all are affected by the culture in which we grow up in, wherever it may be in the world. The crux is we adopt this stand point as normal, and that all others outside of that are weird or even worse, wrong. I think it’s a totally beneficial investment to take yourself outside of your culture so you can examine your beliefs, your habits, your actions, and see how they stand up in the face of another society.

One of the things i hear over and over on this trip is “these people have so little” or even “they have nothing.” This statement is true by the standards in which we live in the united states. Most of the people we interact with have two sets of clothes, they live in a house either put together with mud brick, cut stone, or tin sheets of metal. Most have a dirt floor. They have a piece of land that they farm. And some have animals such as goats, chickens, and if you are lucky, a cow. So to our standard of living, where we all “must” have an ipod, they do have very little.

This is how a lot of the world lives though. But let’s not go down that road. What strikes me about this situation is the reaction from the americans who come across this situation and see the demeanor of the people who live here. They are shocked to find on the faces of people joy and gratitude. I will say that you see hardship, pain, and need. That is there as well. But the people that we met with on the whole, at the orphanage, at churches, grandmothers in their home.... they were full of joy.

This was shocking to our group. Many exclaimed this in our nightly debriefing times. I found this curious. I share some of the same responses, so it’s not a foreign thought to me. But i guess in my previous travels i have already delt with this question of joy in the face of hardship.

I think why this attitude is so shocking to us is because we equate material possessions and standard of living with the amount of joy we have. And why wouldn’t we adopt this stance? We are fed this everyday. The one thing that i have come to discover about america is that we are a people who are trained to live in a state of discontent. Everything that is fed to us media wise – print, audio, television, movies – has a goal to make us feel like we lack something, and that something which is the answer to our discontent is the thing that they want us to buy, watch, or adhere too. You can see this all around us and you can even hear it in the way we talk. Ever heard of shop therapy? Because of this, our equation for gaining joy has been placed in the consumption or attaining of goods.

The rural Africa that we were in stood in the face of this belief, and it took some of our group by surprise. I think this is because people started to see something deeper in the spiritual lives of the people we were around... something that calls out our own consumer spirituality.

(before i make my point, i want to just say that i don’t think that these people should have to stay were they are at because they have joy. There are grave injustices going on in the poor places around the world. These people may have very little, but that doesn’t mean it’s right. And i’m not talking about having a GAP and a Whole Foods move down the street, and eveyone given an IPOD. But these people have a lack of clean water, sanitation complications, and a very difficult time achieving any kind of decent education. These kinds of things should be available to all peoples around the world. I’ve heard some americans comment on the joy of the people they have met and have decided that all is fine because these people express joy in the midst of the situation. This is a stupid and callous response. One’s response to a situation does not mean that the situation is fine. Ok... off this tangent.)

What i think that is is GRATITUDE.

What i hear overwhelmingly in the language of Africans who trust in God is a deep belief that God is gracious and loving, and has them in His hands. Many of these friends live on a day to day basis.... living in a state of hope and seeing their needs taken care of everyday. They do not speak about their consistent paychecks and their hope in their investments which will take care of them when they retire. They speak of an individual (who they seem to know well) who knows their situation, who knows what they need, who hears their sorrowful prayers and they celebratory songs, and they live their lives with their hands open.... trusting in this unseen Father.

We might scoff with the simple-mindedness of this lifestyle. It’s comical in the face of the complex world that we live in. And yet those of us who comment on this find ourselves spirituall empty and lost, continuing in our rat race for acceptance, worth, and meaning in the pursuit of material things.

The fact of the matter is living in the tension of hope for tomorrow leads us to a deeper spirituality of faith, trust, and love. And from that we adopt a lifestyle of gratitude.... which gives us a deeper joy. I’ve come to understand that the world of plenty and choice that i live in can squelch the spirituality and relationship with God that I hope to have in my life. I have to make conscious choices in what i buy, how a spend, my stance on wealth, what i read, what i listen too, etc etc. not because i’m some anal nit picky christian who lives his life with a arrogant stick up my butt. No. because i can see the framework of hedonistic pursuits can lead me to a dead soul and a joyless existence.


“ Not that i speak from want, for i have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and i also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstances i have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
The Apostle Paul, Phillipians 4:11-13

“Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is god’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Paul, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18