This past Sunday, I was invited to share a little bit about at First Hamilton Christian Reformed Church in the Durand neighbourhood. During the service, the pastor mentioned a quote from a wise man from the early 1900s named G.K.
Chesterton. When I got home I looked the quote up, so I could store it in my mind correctly. When faced with the question, “What is wrong with the world?” Chesterton said: “I am.
” As I read a little more about this attributed quote, I learned that this statement was made within an exploration of the limits of politics and how we can only expect limited world healing, transformation and peace to come with the help of political leanings, will and work. Seems like that reality applies as much today as it did then. If I can’t expect my political leaders to make my world right, then I want to learn how I can at least be a small part of “what’s right with the world.
” That first forces me to consider how Chesterton’s quote may be true in my life. Is it true that I may somehow be “what’s wrong with the world?” I am “what’s wrong with the world” when my convenience trumps compassion and I charge ahead with my own goals for the day when Sandy wants just a bit of my precious time to chat because she’s feeling left out of a goal-driven society. I am “what’s wrong with the world” when I get caught up in my ideas for solutions and don’t listen well to my friend Gord who actually lives in a tent.
What about you? Are you maybe.