The Surreal life
Today we leave for home so for the next 30 hours or so I may not be able to post. Here is a post I wrote several days back.
Sometimes life seems surreal. Sometimes life slides into an unexpected reality and takes on some other worldly feel. In my life I experience this feeling most when I am doing something so out of the norm it almost seems imaginary. Take right now for instance. At the moment I am typing this it's 9:30 in the evening in Kisi Kenya. A small town in eastern Africa about 40 miles from lake Victoria which just happens to be the source of the Nile river. I am setting in a dingy and somewhat cliché African hotel hidden beneath netting listening to a local band play a set in the bar downstairs crowded with Friday night patrons. In addition to the live music I am listening to crickets, large diesel trucks passing by, people walking by on the street below and occasionally a tiny tink, tink, tink, noise as I type away on my mac.
The total surreal nature of the situation hit me earlier as i chugged water from my trusty Nalgene bottle shirtless in a room that is so small you cannot have your suitcase open and be out of bed at the same time. I really don't know what is more surreal. The fact that I am in the heart of East Africa or the fact that it seems so natural. A week ago coming home after work and playing with the boys seemed natural, now eating mystery meat from a roadside vendor and showering with an electrical outlet seems just as natural.
A good example of something surreal is something that happened to me today. Today while at one of the orphanages I noticed a lot of the kids staring at me. At first I felt funny, thinking to myself, “why are they starring at me?” Then I noticed something that started slowly but soon gained momentum. The kids would quietly walk up to me and ever so lightly, when I was not looking, touch my arms. The first few touches would be so light I would hardly notice. Then as they saw I did not mind they would rub there hands all over my arms. I finally asked what they where doing and almost could not believe the response. They had never touched a white person. They wanted to see what my skin felt like. Soon there would be dozens of little children touching my arms, rubbing my fingers, looking at the palms of my hands. At first it seemed so unnatural. Letting a bunch of strange kids rub their hands all over my arms. But after a awhile it didn't seem so unnatural. Before too long we began to laugh and talk about the difference of our skin colors. One brave boy asked me if my skin would look like his if I stayed in the sun a few weeks, before I could answer another asked if he came to America would his skin turn white after being out of the sun. We all had a big laugh.
When I think about the encounter it's surreal. But when I was standing under the African sun letting strange kids touch my skin it didn't seem so unnatural. I guess the unnatural becomes natural before long. You know, it's kinda like that when it comes to faith. Some parts of my faith seem so unnatural and out of place and others very surreal. Lately I have started to notice when I start being open to new things before long the unnatural becomes the natural.
Sometimes my faith is so weak and anemic and I get really down about it. I think to myself ,”come on man your suppose to be stronger than this”...so then I just jump out there and start trying new things. Before long I am doing things with my faith I would never have tried before and the unnatural becomes natural.
So here is my suggestion to you. Go out there and try something new. Eat mystery meat without washing your hands, let strange kids play with your arm hair, listen to bar music in questionable hotels in small African towns or do something even more radical. Talk to someone you have had a falling out with. Volunteer at your church in a ministry you have never been involved in, sign up to teach a children's class on wed night, visit elderly people in the hospital, or if you want to get super radical tell someone why your a Christian and invite them to church. Someone once said “a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step”
So I guess the question is....
What's stopping you?
Sometimes life seems surreal. Sometimes life slides into an unexpected reality and takes on some other worldly feel. In my life I experience this feeling most when I am doing something so out of the norm it almost seems imaginary. Take right now for instance. At the moment I am typing this it's 9:30 in the evening in Kisi Kenya. A small town in eastern Africa about 40 miles from lake Victoria which just happens to be the source of the Nile river. I am setting in a dingy and somewhat cliché African hotel hidden beneath netting listening to a local band play a set in the bar downstairs crowded with Friday night patrons. In addition to the live music I am listening to crickets, large diesel trucks passing by, people walking by on the street below and occasionally a tiny tink, tink, tink, noise as I type away on my mac.
The total surreal nature of the situation hit me earlier as i chugged water from my trusty Nalgene bottle shirtless in a room that is so small you cannot have your suitcase open and be out of bed at the same time. I really don't know what is more surreal. The fact that I am in the heart of East Africa or the fact that it seems so natural. A week ago coming home after work and playing with the boys seemed natural, now eating mystery meat from a roadside vendor and showering with an electrical outlet seems just as natural.
A good example of something surreal is something that happened to me today. Today while at one of the orphanages I noticed a lot of the kids staring at me. At first I felt funny, thinking to myself, “why are they starring at me?” Then I noticed something that started slowly but soon gained momentum. The kids would quietly walk up to me and ever so lightly, when I was not looking, touch my arms. The first few touches would be so light I would hardly notice. Then as they saw I did not mind they would rub there hands all over my arms. I finally asked what they where doing and almost could not believe the response. They had never touched a white person. They wanted to see what my skin felt like. Soon there would be dozens of little children touching my arms, rubbing my fingers, looking at the palms of my hands. At first it seemed so unnatural. Letting a bunch of strange kids rub their hands all over my arms. But after a awhile it didn't seem so unnatural. Before too long we began to laugh and talk about the difference of our skin colors. One brave boy asked me if my skin would look like his if I stayed in the sun a few weeks, before I could answer another asked if he came to America would his skin turn white after being out of the sun. We all had a big laugh.
When I think about the encounter it's surreal. But when I was standing under the African sun letting strange kids touch my skin it didn't seem so unnatural. I guess the unnatural becomes natural before long. You know, it's kinda like that when it comes to faith. Some parts of my faith seem so unnatural and out of place and others very surreal. Lately I have started to notice when I start being open to new things before long the unnatural becomes the natural.
Sometimes my faith is so weak and anemic and I get really down about it. I think to myself ,”come on man your suppose to be stronger than this”...so then I just jump out there and start trying new things. Before long I am doing things with my faith I would never have tried before and the unnatural becomes natural.
So here is my suggestion to you. Go out there and try something new. Eat mystery meat without washing your hands, let strange kids play with your arm hair, listen to bar music in questionable hotels in small African towns or do something even more radical. Talk to someone you have had a falling out with. Volunteer at your church in a ministry you have never been involved in, sign up to teach a children's class on wed night, visit elderly people in the hospital, or if you want to get super radical tell someone why your a Christian and invite them to church. Someone once said “a journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step”
So I guess the question is....
What's stopping you?
posted by Paul at Wednesday, October 15, 2008
1 Comments:
Fantastic. I enjoy reading about your adventures Paul. This one ought to be required reading for... well, everyone. All of them are good though.
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