home | board | compass | prayer | eCard

[Main Index]

06/16/2002 Entry: "Contradictions"

I'm having a great time here in Florida. I'm serving in a marvellous church and been made to feel really welcome. People have been "falling over themselves" to be helpful to us. I'm bound to say that I really like this place.As an outsider, though, I'm struck by the contradictions of this culture. You don't have to look very hard through the TV channels to find some really wild "Christian" broadcasts making the most outrageous claims - yet a simple prayer at a school event causes howls of protest. DVD players, computers and other such stuff is amazingly cheap here - but a loaf of bread costs twice as much as at home. There is an obsession with health, with prescription drugs being regularly advertised on TV ("Ask your doctor about...") - and yet everywhere there is evidence that the most straightforward steps to good health (a little exercise and sensible eating) are ignored. Evidence of the effects of global warming are clear (drought in Florida, raging fires in Colorado) - but there appears no willingness to take any steps that might slow down the process. Above all, this is a nation proud of its heritage and its "connectedness" with the past (I've lost track of the number of people who've told me exactly where and when their ancestors came from) – and yet it does not seem able or willing to accept the much more pressing claim of its neighbours in the here and now.This probably seems very critical, and that really isn't my intention. There is so much here that I envy. The Church has a far greater part in people's lives here than in the UK. Shop assistants are more polite. Sensible and enforced speed limits in built-up areas, especially on the approaches to schools. Ice cream. When I hear George W. say, "This is a great country" I'm obliged (reluctantly!) to agree with him.Something holds this vast nation together despite the many different cultures and climates it contains. Somehow the interests of the citizens of New England and New Mexico are balanced. This is no small achievement. My prayer is that those in authority here will begin to include the interests of the global community in their deliberations which, one day, they surely will - when their voters demand it.

Posted by Richard @ 06/17/2002 01:18 PM CST

So how is the American pastor who exchanged with you holding up in your homeland?

Posted by Bene Diction @ 06/17/2002 03:53 AM CST