Temporary Citizen

Today was a scary day to be a citizen of the world. You may not have felt it where you live, maybe things in your neighborhood were quiet and normal. But if you lived abroad today odds are, you didn’t feel that way. Most likely the embassy where you live, sent you a message to avoid protesters and stay away from large crowds even if they appeared peaceful at first. The international air is thick with tension this weekend, for many different reasons. In so many countries today the protests were violent and stem from deep religious and ideological differences that have formed a great divide of hatred. Many of those protests and much of that violence in the Muslim world is directed against the U.S. In our spot of the world the anger isn’t directed our way (something which we are very thankful for). We have always been treated graciously. But the tensions among Asian nations here are at an eruption point. In our city, and around this nation today, anything and everything Japanese came under attack. In some places just with words, but in many places there was a lot more than words thrown around. Our local grocery store, where I shop almost every day, has every window shattered because its ownership is Japanese. We are more than a little concerned for our car (brand name Japanese), because a few people we know have had theirs vandalized today. There is a long history of tension between these nations for very old reasons. The atrocities committed here in this country, and specifically in this city by the Japanese against the locals here are only 70 or 80 years old. People still remember. The violence in other parts of the world has a long history too. In the U.S. we still remember the ideology and hatred that marks the recent anniversary of September 11th deeply in our hearts and minds. I will never forget that day. But reasons aside, the mob mentality is never so much about logic as it is about blind emotion, and blind emotion often causes outcomes that are not helpful in the disagreements at hand.


This is also the political season, here in this country, in my home country, in Japan, and in many other countries too. Politics seem to bring out in us all the very worse. The greed, the hatred, the pride, the arrogance, the lying; they all spill out when politics are on the table. I am always deeply saddened in political seasons to listen to the commentary from politicians, from journalists, from the general public, and sometimes even from my friends and family.


But tonight I’m taking a step back and looking beyond the politics, and the protests, the patriotism, and the anger. I’m remembering that none of it is surprising, none of it is unexpected, and none of it is out of control. We live in a world full of lost and dying people. Every single one of us, no matter nationality, political ideology, or religion is suffering from the same disease and destined to the same fate. At our very core we are marred by our selfish, greedy, dishonest, proud, and hateful hearts; our sin. We should expect nothing less than to see that manifested in every corner of this world, but that manifestation is not without hope. It is full of hope because it screams of our need for someone to save us from ourselves, ALL OF US. Praise be to God that He didn’t leave us as we are but provided for us a way out. I’m so thankful tonight that He changed everything for me. That He didn’t leave me as I was, that He redeemed my desperate dying heart. I am thankful for forgiveness, hope, and love. So I hope we remember, as we all live as citizens of this crazy world that we are all the same, with the same deep essential flaw, the same terminal diagnosis, but also with the same hope offered. We have been extended a cure, in the form of a gift. It’s been extended to all.


In a few weeks, if my absentee ballot comes through, I’ll vote. I’ll vote, and then I’ll thank Him that He already decided the outcome (whether it’s the one I would have chosen or not), and that now, as always, the future of time, history, nations, and every specific person is in His hands. What a relief!


So on the days when I wake up to a sunny sky and no big problems, I will remember that HE is in control. And on days like today when I wake up to smoke filled skies, from burning factories and grocery stores, with angry and scared people filling the streets, I will remember that HE is in control. I am thankful that the truth is always true no matter what the day looks like. And I’m ever so thankful that this world is not my home.