Day 3: A Reflection on Learning

There are many wonderful people we are spending time with and I want to share those experiences.  And today was a varied and enjoyable day with lots of different kinds of experiences and so much joy.  Our team is hustling and helping and generally having a ball together, and I want to give you a glimpse into what our days and interactions have been like.  And I will share some of this over the rest of the week.

But tonight I am reflecting more on the outcome of my experiences these last two days and realizing something important.  

I have stopped learning.  

Four years ago, I changed careers and started a business, and there’s no doubt I’ve been absorbing information about my field.  And that’s learning, of course, but my absorption of new information has narrowed more and more over time to a specific category of very specific, very practical knowledge, and to my detriment, I believe.

The world and the people in it are a kaleidoscope of information, experiences, knowledge, and worldview that are unexpected and delightful.  And these last two days, I have been experiencing all of these and thinking…thinking new thoughts and asking new questions and wondering new things.  Curiosity has me asking questions of people I barely know and Googling random facts tangential to the conversations I’ve been having.  And looking up translations of Spanish words I’ve been seeing on the buildings around me as we drive from place to place.  I have been practicing my Spanish, a skill I abandoned developing more than thirty years ago.  

A week ago, the world felt very narrow; I was busy, busy, busy; frequently overwhelmed and harried.  I was withdrawing from the world to conserve energy and resources.  I was wallowing in a scarcity mindset - not enough time, not enough energy, not enough brainpower.  I was drowning, but diving deeper to solve that problem rather than surfacing for air.

And that’s exactly how I am feeling - I have surfaced from my inward-focused mindset, taken the blanket off my head, and taken a deep breath for the first time in what seems like forever.  And the world is a marvel of abundance and life.

We were made by a creator with all of the intelligence and creativity that has ever existed…A creator who designed the delicate veins on a leaf, and bats who navigate by sound, and a sun that warms us from 93 million miles away, and the great blue whale with a 4,000lb tongue.  We are created in His image and likeness, which means that we, too, are gifted with a remarkable capacity to know, to create, to learn.  We were designed to do so, so we are never more alive than when we are experiencing more and learning more.

I wonder how many of us have allowed the world to narrow around us as time has worn on.  When was the last time you hugged someone (or a bunch of someones) you just met?  When was the last time you heard the story of how someone came to live in a country in which they were not born?  When was the last time you learned to do something new?  When was the last time you experienced life outside your comfort zone?  And when was the last time you allowed experiences such as these to open your mind?  To change your mind?  To soften your heart?

Learning is growing.  Learning is living.

Whatever we have given as a group as a part of this mission trip cannot possibly compare to what has been given to us - an injection of life.  I am praying we can take this feeling and awareness home with us and grasp onto it firmly.  I pray that this experience will not just be reduced to memories, but will be a seed that is planted deeply, nurtured, and brought to harvest in a way that reflects the glory of God and shines the light of Christ through us and onto others.

See new things.  Meet new people.  Be embarrassed and take the crazy photo that will make you and others laugh.  Play your instrument with strangers.  Attend service in another language.  Sing poorly.  Go somewhere new.  Pose with a Zebra.  Pretend you’re drinking out of that six foot straw.  Take selfies.  Share a platter of food.  Eat new things.  Do the secret handshake with someone you just met.  Do it all.  And allow it to change you.