Where do I come from?

It is an intriguing thing to think about what we name as our "culture" - what is it that defines who we are and where we come from?  For the last couple of weeks I have been spending time in Erickson, Manitoba. There is a definite culture to small town living that is separate and apart from city living. I was out walking one morning and I stopped to talk with a young woman so that her two children could pat my dog.  She asked me if I was new in town.  I told her: "no, I am married to the lawyer here."  And she replied:  "oh yeah, you're the minister who lives in another town somewhere."  It still makes me laugh to think of that conversation!  I knew nothing about her, but just knowing who I am married to meant she knew a whole lot about me.  And therein lies both the beauty and the difficulty about small town life - hard to be anonymous here, but when there is a death in your family you can bet that the fridge will be overflowing with food from the neighbours.  Here are some pictures that I took on my afternoon walk down the Trans Canada Trail that goes right alongside the field by our apartment...

This is the Apartment Block we live in:

And across the road, this is the Trans Canada Walking Trail:

A view from the trail:

I think it is helpful to think about culture as I prepare myself to fly across to another world - another culture.  This is a picture of my father at the local market in the small town where he lives in B.C....

Over the last ten years my father has travelled to many places.  In our last conversation his words of wisdom to me were that the best way to really learn about another culture is to not make comparisons to "home" - or at least don't make them out loud!  He said that you are changed a little bit with each trip that you make, but the best learning comes when you really listen to the people you are with and appreciate the world through their eyes.  I agree.  It changes it from thinking about what is better or worse, to recognizing the beauty in diversity - to recognizing that there are wide varieties of approaches to life and it is good to step outside my own comfort zone and experience life from a new perspective.

And so...as I prepare to experience a whole new culture I pray that my mind and heart might be open to a new way of seeing - a new way of being.  I pray that I might have the grace to appreciate the diversity and not critically or cynically judge a "different" way of living life.  And I pray that I might have the wisdom to be able to share the story in a way that invites all of us into becoming connected to our global community.