travel

     travel, the ability to experience the world from a totally different lens, is one of the best things we can do during heightened tensions at home. by putting into perspective all our arguments and debates, we can have a clearer understanding of what’s important & what’s not. travel is not an escape. rather, it’s a heightened and sobering reminder of the beauty of our world, different people, different faiths, and different worldviews. 

     fear of the other. fear of this group, that group, those people, that person, has become the pillar on which all division and aggression begins. if we could create a country that values travel, values experiencing the world through other lenses, and appreciates the wide variety of human experiences, i believe we would be much more empathetic towards those we’re indifferent toward, and appreciative of our rights and comforts back home. for instance, being a foreigner abroad puts into perspective the immigrants in our communities back home. how do we treat them? are we patient with them as they try to navigate a different country? do we appreciate that they want to learn our language, participate in our society, and be American? or do we see them as a burden? how do people treat us when we’re the foreigners? how does that feel?

     another example of how meaningful travel can be is seeing people’s commutes to work, their family lives, their food, their crime, their leisure, their form of worship, and their interactions with strangers. what can we learn from them? how might Americans be right about certain things and so wrong about other things? how are Jesus, God, and other religious figures depicted here? in what ways does God seem to seen be differently? and how is God universal, all-encompassing, timeless, and ever-present? what does prayer look like here? what protests or political unrest is taking place during my visit? what do citizens have to say about that? what’s the history of this country? what’s its beautiful history? what’s its gruesome history? what are the statistics on this country’s mental health? how is that reflected in the day-to-day? finally, in what ways are we all extremely similar; both in the never-ending human struggles and always-appreciated human joys? what does this tell us about our fear of the other?

     by sharing with our kneutral audience about travel, different lifestyles, different beliefs, and unique interactions, we can continue to foster a society that is genuinely interested in others, rather than fearful. if Americans were excited to learn, excited to understand, and excited to be challenged, we wouldn’t fall prey to today’s conflict and isolation. if we saw those that are different from us as those we can learn from, rather than a threat, we’d be healthier and happier. families wouldn’t fall apart during thanksgiving, and politicians and religious figures wouldn’t be able to use our dysfunction to their personal benefit. if we could resist the temptation to put people in boxes, reject them outright, and despise them for threatening our worldview, we might accomplish kneutrality; an organized movement that deliberately refuses to participate in inflammation, fear, and self-idolization.