A Larger World

As I was writing yesterday about the 4th of July, I got to thinking about how easy it is to turn our thoughts and priorities inward, both personally and nationally. Yesterday’s holiday was all about us, but some people think like that all the time. Their time has passed. We are now a part of the rest of the world, a world which has been shrinking constantly during the last century. With modern communications, ease of travel, worldwide pollution and environmental issues, even terrorism, it is evident that the ostrich approach is no longer valid, even for individual citizens. We are affected, personally, by people and nations across the globe. Therefore, it behooves us to alter our mind set and live our lives in such a way as to reflect our citizenship in this larger world we are all so much a part of. The old “us and them” system on thought can be a dangerous thing because in the big picture there is only “us.” Certainly we are going to show deference to our family, our neighbors, and issues related to our state or nation. However, we simply must care about people outside of our little circle of contacts and influence. Our true sphere of influence is actually worldwide, just as we are influenced by factors far beyond our own zones of comfort. Like it or not, each of us is a part of that larger world and if we remain mindful of the related blessings and responsibility related thereto that world can be a better place. It’s a small world, after all.

A Larger World
It is clearly a larger world by far
Than the little corner I see
And much as I wish, it certainly
Doesn’t revolve round me
Yet, so many people live as if
This world was their own
Without a thought of all the folks
Whom they have never known
However, those who live that way
Sadly, fail to see
The part they may be called to play
And the responsibility
We all have to one another
In this big, wide world we share
And how much better it could be
If folks were willing to care
Not only for their neighbors
But for strangers far away
Then together we could work to make
Tomorrow a brighter day
By Frank Carpenter ©