Around the World in Twelve Days

Kiwi Santa

Today we begin a 12-day countdown to Christmas Day, featuring Christmas traditions in twelve different countries. It is so unseasonably warm here in the eastern half of the US right now that it reminds me of my childhood Christmases down under in Australia. Instead of Australia, however, we begin our round-the-world journey in New Zealand, just across the Tasman Sea from its larger neighbor. (See my first post on our recent visit to New Zealand here.) Our dear friends Neil and Jill tell us that traditionally, New Zealanders used to pretend it was winter, spraying fake snow on windows and trees and playing wintry American Christmas music. More recently, Kiwis have begun to embrace the fact that "it's summer, for goodness sake!" So rather than the traditional Christmas dinner of roast lamb with mint sauce, you'll just as likely find people barbecuing outdoors or at the beach.

Although fewer and fewer New Zealanders seem to see the primary purpose of Christmas as celebrating the birth of Christ, what Christians who do often find creative ways to breathe life into this special day for believers. Overall, the day is seen as a welcome day off to spend time with family, exchange gifts, and overeat!

Be watching tomorrow for Day 2 of our Round-the-World Christmas!

A Letter to My Non-American Friends on Thanksgiving

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Dear International Friends, We in the US have exported much to you over the years. Everywhere I travel I see American products, hear American music, and can easily find a burger if I'm in the mood. I happen to know that some of you have learned English just by watching American and British movies. Coca-Cola has become one of the top three universal vocabulary words. Even some holidays have begun to be celebrated American style in other countries. (Halloween became a thing in Europe while I was living there.) I'm not always proud of what we send your way. I even find myself wanting to apologize at times on behalf of my people.

But there is one uniquely American holiday I am actually proud of. I'm proud that our country sets aside a day every year simply to be grateful.  Most Americans consider the first Thanksgiving the celebration of the first harvest by the Pilgrims in Massachusetts in the year 1621. Our first President, George Washington, first declared a day of thanksgiving in 1789, but it did not become a national, annual holiday until Abraham Lincoln responded to the pleas of one Sarah Joseph Hale, who for thirty years had been writing to president after president, suggesting a national Thanksgiving Day. Lincoln's successors followed suit each year, but it wasn't until 1941 that Congress, during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, permanently established the fourth Thursday of November as a national day of thanks.

Now the object of that gratitude is up for discussion. The Pilgrims were thanking the God of the Bible. So were Washington and Lincoln. These days it's a little more complicated. Some thank Allah, some thank their lucky stars, or the universe...and some simply aren't sure whom to thank, so they just say they're thankful. Whatever the case, I know I've found myself in the school of gratitude of late. And although my faith in God has been tested at times, I find -- and I'm thankful for this in itself -- that the impulse to thank someone has never left me.

In the words of Andrew Peterson:

Don't you ever wonder why In spite of all that's wrong here There's still so much that goes so right And beauty abounds?

'Cause sometimes when you walk outside The air is full of song here The thunder rolls and the baby sighs And the rain comes down

And when you see the spring has comeAnd it warms you like a mother's kissDon't you want to thank someone?Don't you want to thank someone for this?

                 - from "Don't You Want to Thank Someone" from the album Light for the Lost Boy

When I realize the breath in my lungs is on loan to me, when I am surrounded by the family who is everything to me but which I don't deserve, when I remember that I am a recipient of grace upon grace upon grace...I want to thank someone. And I have to believe that Someone is a person, someone higher and greater than myself, someone who alone can not only make sense of this world, but somehow spoke it into existence. And so I thank God.

And if some day this holiday happens to be exported, well, worse things could happen.

France's Critical Crossroads

A woman holds a French flag colored placard with French translating as "we are Paris" whilst attending a vigil for victims of the deadly Paris attacks, in Trafalgar Square, London, Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015. French President Francois Hollande said more than 120 people died Friday night in shootings at Paris cafes, suicide bombings near France's national stadium and a hostage-taking slaughter inside a concert hall. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)/LMD124/263092334897/1511141544

First of all, thank you to all those who have expressed concern about our friends and acquaintances in Paris following this week's attacks. As far as we know, they are all OK, although obviously somewhat shaken.

Calamities like the terrorist attacks on Friday unfortunately bring out the best and worst in us. Many will seize it as an opportunity to mount their favorite soapbox, even when there is no apparent connection to the current events. Or even more insidious, many will launch headlong into generalizations that lump all Muslims into the same lot of radical terrorists as those responsible for Friday's carnage.

Personally, I am as shocked, saddened, and dismayed at the attacks as anyone; but I am not surprised.

For decades now, France has had a growing Muslim population, now at almost 10% of the total population, equaled only in Western Europe by that of Germany. Many of these, whose parents immigrated to France from the former North African French colonies, have grown up fully integrated into mainstream French society. Many others, however, are more recent arrivals and have remained marginalized and often discriminated against. They are often relegated to the "HLM," the large government-subsidized housing behemoths in the suburbs of France's large cities. These disenfranchised populations are ripe for the harvest of radical organizations looking for recruits.

So the decisions President Hollande and his cohorts are facing are extremely complex, and anyone who says there are simple solutions is fooling themselves. France prides itself on the concept of laïcité, or secularism, whereby all religions have the freedom to practice their beliefs, but NOT the freedom to impose their beliefs on others. Government is theoretically staunchly secular, although, especially at times like this, there is widespread ambivalence on this subject. Today's memorial service for the victims was not held at a government building or a civic gathering place, but at the hallowed Notre Dame de Paris cathedral. The human heart in times like this clearly cries for something more than government consolation or even resolve to track down the perpetrators.

Should -- and could -- the government suspend free speech and monitor sermons in the thousands of mosques in France to root out clerics preaching jihad, as some suggest?

Should France close its borders to ALL migrants seeking asylum just in case a small number of them are planning attacks?

I am in no position to offer solutions, but I do have a wish list for France:

• Find ways to better integrate Muslims into the fabric of French society, reducing their vulnerability to radical predators
• Remain united -- and moderate -- in the face of disagreements over the right course of action
• With a renewed commitment to love their neighbor, the French return to normalcy as soon as possible
• Travelers not be deterred from visiting the City of Lights, taking normal precautions but not giving into fear

For now, Paris is mourning. And we will sit and we will mourn with her.

Nous sommes tous Paris. 

The Fall of the Wall

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It's just a chunk of concrete. In 1989 we were living in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Punk music, hot pink and black, and big hair were alive and well. So was the Cold War. During the summer of that year, the ground began to shake under Eastern Europe. The discontent with the Communist-controlled governments, themselves controlled by the Soviet Union, became more and more vocal. Citizens became more emboldened to express their discontent with oppressive regimes, poor standards of living, and restricted travel.

Finally, on November 9, the East German government announced that its citizens would be allowed to visit West Germany. In Berlin, a divided city since the end of World War II, thousands of people climbed atop and over the infamous Berlin Wall, the most well known symbol of the deep division between East and West. An excited and festive crowd on the other side awaited them, and friends and family who hadn’t seen each other in years were reunited. To this day I get choked up when watching this clip narrated by Peter Jennings.

Hundreds of souvenir hunters, including a friend of mine, chipped away at the wall with hammers to take a part of it with them. Although the above photo may look like nothing more than a chunk of concrete, it is a piece of that wall and one of our prized possessions. It symbolizes one of the most significant world events of my lifetime, and I consider myself fortunate to have been living in Europe at the time of the crumbling of that wall, followed by nothing less than the dismantling of communism in Europe.

Why Every Student Should Globalize Himself

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My wife and I recently watched an interesting historical fiction movie called "The Physician," in which a young English lad in the Dark Ages hears of a Persian healer who is training other healers in anatomy and medicine. The young Englishman begins his odyssey to the fabled city of Isfahan in hopes of studying under this guru. He finds that the Islamic culture of the East is far more advanced in science and knowledge than his own Europe. He returns home having gained skills far greater than what he had been learning with the superstitious traveling medicine man he had been apprenticing under. In this age of globalization,  the reasons for studying abroad are only continuing to multiply. Most Americans, when they hear the term "study abroad", think of the university years, but you don't necessarily need to wait till then. Thousands of high school students participate in exchange programs every year, and it often helps determine the course of the rest of their lives.

I'll be going into this in more detail in future posts (and talks), but for now a summary of some of the greatest benefits of leaving your shores to learn:

• It expands your world view. (Why not start with the obvious?) Most high school and college students have lived in the same place for all or most of their lives before graduating, therefore being exposed to one way of life, one sub-culture, one way of buying groceries, one this and one that. As soon as your feet hit the ground of your host country, your life will change. You will be introduced to other perspectives that will fascinate you and challenge your comfort zone at the same time.
• It grows you up. Graduating from high school and beginning university is in itself a maturing experience. But if you remain in the same culture afterwards, your maturing process will be much slower than if you take the significant step of planting yourself for a time in a foreign culture -- preferably one where your mother tongue is not the official language. You will find yourself having to make decisions and choices more independently, and the challenge of living and communicating in a foreign culture will develop muscles you had no idea you had.
• It expands your capacity for learning. Not only will you be learning from the courses you take, likely taught in a different style than you're used to and forcing you to adapt, but every day will be a learning experience as you take in the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and customs of your host culture. You will quickly learn, if you haven't already, that life itself is a classroom, and you will be more likely to remain a life-long learner as a result.
• It looks really good on a resumé. Let's be honest. In today's competitive job market, international experience on a CV can often be the difference between you and other qualified candidates for the position. What does that experience signify to an employer? It says you have taken the time to invest in yourself, to stretch yourself, to make yourself more adaptable to new environments, and that you're adventuresome.

And once you've experienced one such adventure, you will find yourself hungry for more....

How to Avoid the Pendulum

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Are you a swinger? As I mentioned in my last post, we are often prompted to react in unsavory ways when adversity, fear, or disappointment hits. Yes, cynicism is often the result after so many disappointments and so much disillusionment.

But another human syndrome I've observed over the years is the pendulum swing.

When a certain course of action doesn't produce the desired result, something tells us we should look for the opposite as the solution.

• Your weight problem has you so frustrated that you decide starving yourself is the only solution.

• Fleeing your puritanical upbringing, you dive headlong into satisfying your fleshly desires.

• After years of feeling overlooked or invisible, you go to great lengths to attract attention.

• Your first wife was too controlling, so you marry someone the complete opposite.

• Your rat race life led you to sell everything and move as far away from civilization as possible. (OK, maybe that one's not as common.)

• And on a collective level: we get fed up with seemingly failed policies so we elect the polar opposite in the next Congress or Oval Office.

Is there a middle ground? Is the middle only "mushy", as extremists insist? Is there no place for making slight corrections rather than knee-jerk reactions?

The word equilibrium literally means "equal or level scale or balance." Funny that the symbol for justice, a balance, is so often overlooked in our lives that are often nothing more than a series of reactionary decisions. When you want to even the scale, you add weight to one side in small increments, not overwhelming weights. If you are in leadership, this is all the more vital.

Take strength training as a metaphor. If you want to build muscle, you add weight to your routine only in small increments. Everyone knows it would be foolish to add a ton of weight all at once. Yet that is often how we make decisions when we feel a change is called for.

Are there slight adjustments you could make that would lead to a healthier life for you as a person or for your organization?

The ship that makes slight corrections in its course is the one that remains upright.

Why Cynicism is Enemy Number One

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It happens to the best of us, and it is deadly. It has been said that half the battle is recognizing your enemies, and I have found mine -- or at least one of my top three.

Life can throw some serious curve balls at us. Even the most optimistic among us can end up bruised and broken by different forms of adversity that come our way. I have been accused more than once of being an idealist, and in some ways, the more idealistic you are, the more potential you have of becoming a cynic. After being hurt so many times, after so many disappointments, it is easy to slip into a self-protective cynicism, as if that will somehow save us from future disappointment.

The longer you live, the more opportunities you have to allow that heart of yours to develop a nice, crusty shell around it. But the truth is that you don't have to be as old as I am to become a cynic. You can start whenever you like -- as soon as disappointment or trauma appears.

You stop believing for the best in people and begin to distrust everyone.

You find yourself fixated on the darker side of humanity and fail to see the good and the beautiful. And here's the kicker: you blame God for the woes that have beset you, because, after all, we have to have someone to blame.

I know because I've been there. And the frightening thing is that it can sneak up on you so subtly that you wake up one day and discover that all the positive energy has been zapped from your life. And here is a great irony: while you are believing that everyone is nothing but self-interested, you yourself are becoming more and more self-focused. Let's face it -- it's hard to be others-oriented and cynical at the same time.

A recent Huffington Post article lists a number of the symptoms and consequences of a cynical outlook on life. Do any of these look familiar?

• physical ailments
• poor sense of well-being
• avoidance of cooperation or collaboration

...and some from my own observation:

• reduced creativity
• self-pity
• lack of vision
• lethargy
• isolation

In my next post, we'll talk about some ways to recognize and overcome Public Enemy Number One.

How you have you been affected by cynicism? No, not your neighbor, you!

Tell Me of Tuscany

Photo: Ben Scott

My wife and I have had the pleasure of conducting a number of cultural tours to Europe, the most recent of which was this past June. We visit three of the world's greatest cities: Rome, Paris, and London. We see some of the finest art the world has ever known. We tread where kings and emperors trod. We see amazing performances. We shop in some of the best markets anywhere. We see sights many only dream of seeing. And yet, from the feedback we receive, our experience in Tuscany almost always rises to the top as the highlight of the three-week tour.

There are many reasons for this. Of all the phases of the 3-country tour, these days based half an hour outside Florence contain the most human contact with the local population. We are hosted by two wonderful families: the Ammirabile and Volle families. Our housing consists of newly renovated studio apartments overlooking the valley pictured above. (You could do worse than waking up to that every morning.) In between our day trips into Florence or to some of the "hill towns" of Tuscany, we share in experiences that are an inviting window into what appears to be an almost idyllic lifestyle.

Caty w oven

Our good friend Caty (Caterina) heads up the meal preparation and offers lessons in Italian cuisine in the process. We enjoy some pretty delicious food throughout Europe, but everyone seems to agree that Caty's cuisine is the finest -- whether pizzas of all kinds baked in her outdoor oven with olive and other local woods, to pasta cooked just right or even simple bruschetta, every meal is a feast.

Giovanni2

Grazia

Perhaps it's how closely the Ammirabile family lives to the land that makes them so endearing. The family runs both a wine growing and an olive oil business, and one of the highlights of our time is the tour of the vineyards by Giovanni, the patriarch of the family. A committed Christian, Giovanni explains the role of the winegrower while alluding to Jesus' teachings on the vine and the branches. The man knows what he is talking about. He has been "pruned" himself more times than I know about -- and yet the sparkle in his eye as he talks about his vineyard indicates a faith that has survived his trials. His wife, Grazia, doesn't attract attention to herself but has a heart of gold.  

Even though food is not the focal point of our Tuscan adventure, it is surely the time spent at the table that stands out in our participants' memory. A welcome contrast to the too-often rushed American meal, it is often surprising to realize how long we've been lingering at the table, simply enjoying the moment, being together in such a pastoral setting.

Whatever the case, you can be sure these few days in the Tuscan countryside will be an ingredient of the World to the Wise cultural tours for years to come. Between the bustle of great cities like Rome and Venice, it is like landing in a bubble of peace and tranquility.

Ask anyone who has been with us and you will most likely be answered with a sigh.

Evening vineyard

I've Changed My Mind

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The origin of the English word "symposium" is a lot less academic than it sounds in modern usage. In ancient Greek it actually meant "drinking together," and was generally done after a meal, as the Greeks normally didn't drink with their meal. "Its enjoyment was heightened by intellectual or agreeable conversation (italics mine), by the introduction of music or dancers, and by other amusements." (Century Dictionary) We would be naive to think there was always unanimous agreement at these symposia, but the discussion was generally framed in the context of civil exchange with the idea of learning something.

We've come a long way -- in the wrong direction.

I've been thinking lately about the delicate balance (there's that word again) between standing firm in your position on the one hand, and being open to reconsider on the other.

It all comes down to one fundamental question: are we more concerned about being right or being enlightened?

Surely all of us have evolved in our thinking on certain subjects. I most definitely have. This would obviously have been impossible if I were so entrenched in one way of thinking that I couldn't see any alternatives. The areas where my thinking has changed -- where I've changed my mind -- mostly happened because I was seeking the truth. I've wrestled. Grappled. Questioned.

If your point of view is different from mine, I will gladly listen to you, but only on one condition: is your opinion thought through? If you are just reciting a party line or dogma, you'd best move on. If you are letting anger cloud your judgment, you'd better take a step back, take a moment and consider what you're saying.

If we both listen to each other in a convivial atmosphere of mutual respect and common quest for truth, we will all be much better off.

And we might both end up changing our minds -- at least a little. And that's a good thing.

Ethno What?

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The Pew Research Center has just released a report stating that the foreign-born population in the United States is increasing so fast that the record set in 1890, percentage-wise, could be broken within the next decade. I'm not here to discuss the number of illegals versus legals, nor am I in a position to put forth an opinion on whether we should slow the influx of immigrants who continue to seek a new life on our shores. I do know the number of Syrian refugees the US has agreed to take is far less than proportionate to its population and far inferior to the number requested by the UN. My question is: what is at the heart of much of our reluctance to accept more immigrants? Yes, a large number of new arrivals at once could stretch our resources and strain our infrastructures. But if we're honest, there is something else at play here.

In his recent visit, some of Pope Francis's first words in addressing the American public included the fact that he himself is the son of immigrants. (His Italian parents left Italy when Mussolini came to power when Francis was four years old.) We all know that we are a nation of immigrants, so where is the disconnect? Who decided enough was enough, and when? What's more, I can only imagine what Native Americans are thinking.

Question: would we be reluctant to accept "new Americans," as some are calling the recent immigrants, if they were English, Irish, Scottish, or Dutch, the Europeans who initially populated the East Coast? Yes, many others followed: Spaniards, Scandinavians, Italians, Eastern Europeans...not to mention the African slaves who had no choice in the matter. And now fully 47% of recent immigrants to the US are from Mexico and Central America, followed by 26% Asians. But what language won out as the national language in this so-called melting pot? Seems the other languages melted away...to the point where Slavic and other Eastern European immigrants would change their names at Ellis Island to more English-sounding surnames in order to blend in better.

Is it possible that we Anglos are so used to being the majority that the ever-increasing number of minority immigrants threatens our position? And then what will happen? I believe it is this fear that is driving much of the rhetoric flying around in the immigration debate. It's not fun to admit to being ethnocentric, but I'm ashamed to say I see traces of it in myself.

Do you?

In Search of Truth

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At times over the years I have been a part of discussions on human origins and the ongoing debate between the scientific and religious communities. This is of course not simply a two-sided debate (see my post on binary thinking here) -- there are multiple scientific theories, biblical interpretations and opinions -- more than enough to choose from. The debate between Bill Nye the Science Guy and Ken Ham in February 2014 was an unfortunate parade of two extremes, and an excellent example of asking the wrong questions. The one thing these two gentlemen and the camps they represent have in common, however, is this:

They are seeking the truth.

So in that same pursuit, I say to the creationist community:

Good science and good scientists are not necessarily out to disprove anything; they are seeking the truth. You trust them to vaccinate your child or treat your ailing parent, based on what they have learned through research. You trust them to provide you with what are now basic services (electricity, running water) as a result of advances using the scientific method. And yet, when it comes to delving into our distant past, whether the age of mankind or the planet he inhabits, you become defensive and fearful. Fearful that what you believe to be true will be undermined, and -- worse yet -- the foundations on which you have built your life will crumble. I would humbly suggest that we're asking the wrong questions. Perhaps the right question, or at least one of them, is not "Is the Bible true or not?" but "How should we read and interpret the Bible?" If only all of life's answers were Yes or No.

To the scientific community I would say:

What if we were to let go of the notion that all reality -- all truth -- had to be or could be proved? What if some things simply surpassed our understanding? What if the inexplicable were to be placed in the category of Someone who knows better than we do? To quote 17th century French philosopher and scientist Blaise Pascal, what if "the heart has its reasons that reason knows not of"?

In his book The Language of God, scientist Francis S. Collins brings these two worlds together in a masterful way. Also check out his organization, BioLogos.

"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality." - Carl Sagan

Sept. 23, 2015 - A Day of Convergence

Pope Francis

On this beautiful first day of autumn (in the Northern Hemisphere), we're still here. What's the big deal about that? Many sincere followers of biblical prophecy fully expected the rapture to happen on this most important date on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. I dare not ridicule these people for their genuine desire to see the return of Christ and the fulfillment of prophecy; it just appears that the puzzle, as some of them call it, is a little more elusive and mysterious than they claim. In the meantime, today also marks the first visit to the U. S. of Pope Francis, who has by all accounts received not just a papal, but a royal welcome. How refreshing it is to hear people from all corners of the religious and political landscape (with some exceptions, of course) lay aside their partisan rhetoric. You may be right if you label this collective embrace hypocritical on the part of some, but the Holy Father's visit, and his words in particular, point to something in each one of us: to quote a book title by a late friend of mine, it's the "truth you know you know". We all know, deep down, that mercy is not just an action but a way of life. We all know that the plight of the poor must be addressed in some way. Why it takes a papal visit to remind us of these things is another question.

Whatever the case, if we take his words to heart and use them to do some recentering, it might not hurt anything. Or in the words of the prophet Micah, "...do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God."

And perhaps, in the process, we'll be a little more ready for the Second Coming, whenever that may be.

A Tradition We Could Learn From

Old Chinese man

Our kitchen calendar reminds me it is Respect for the Aged Day in Japan, celebrated on the third Monday of September every year. The most elderly are honored and featured in the Japanese media. What if we were to adopt such a custom in the West? In honor of this, I am reposting an earlier blog called Senioritis of a Different Sort. Enjoy:

I’ve been musing a lot lately on the way we view aging and the elderly. Perhaps this is because I’ve been in a number of conversations lately where I was the oldest person present; at one time or another comments were made implying either pity or embarrassment for me, as if my age were a disfiguring disease.

This is something that varies from one culture to another. Most of us are aware that in Eastern cultures the elderly are treated with more respect than in the West. Their life experiences and lessons learned along the way are considered, of all things, an asset and not a liability. It is a given in Asia, as well as in most African cultures, that a family will care for aging family members in return for having been raised by them. In the West, this is so often absent that the death of several French senior citizens due to neglect during a heat wave a number of years ago brought it painfully to the light.

I’m not naive enough to believe, however, that the grass is COMPLETELY greener on the other side. Many families, while providing food and shelter for their aging parents, secretly resent that their resources are being drained or that their parents are ungrateful. That said, it would not hurt us, in the West, to learn something about honoring our elders and the road they have walked. For my part, I’ve resolved to wear what is left of my gray hair as a badge of honor.

Celebrating the Ordinary

Autumn foliage reflection on lake in rural Pennsylvania

I have a confession. I am the kind, like some of you, who lives from one adventure to the next. I look to these adventures as markers that add meaning to my life. Whether it is a World to the Wise cultural tour, celebrating a birth or birthday with my ever-growing family, or a weekend getaway, these mountaintop experiences keep me going.

But there is the flip side of this fact that deserves some serious attention: a friend of mine used to call it "farming the valleys". What happens on the ordinary days when there is nothing particularly special on the calendar, when it's just another day at the office? Is that cause for depression, lethargy, or negativity?

As I have mentioned before, I have found myself of late in the school of gratitude. As I commit myself to being thankful for the seemingly mundane aspects of my life, those reasons for gratitude seem to multiply exponentially. Take the fact that, since I work about half of my work week from home, on beautiful fall days I can take my laptop out to the back deck and savor the outdoors and the verdant neighborhood I live in. Or the fact that my wife and I live within less than 15 minutes from all three of our sons and our four grandchildren. (Who would have thought, given the fact that we have covered the planet between us!) The list of course goes on and on.

The Reformers talked a good deal about what they called "common grace," the fact that God's grace rests on all of us and enables us to acknowledge His goodness in all facets of life.

Yes, I still look forward to fall break in the North Carolina mountains. But in the meantime, I celebrate the ordinary as well. The word "mundane" comes from the Latin word for "world". And this world indeed has much to celebrate.

Looking Out for the Outsider

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When I was five years old, my parents moved to Australia. As children started first grade at the age of five there, I was thrown right into the deep end. No kindergarten, no cultural orientation class...boom, I was in school. Of course, I had two things working in my favor: 1) I spoke English, albeit a very different accent from my peers, and 2) all of us children were new to this thing called school. It was basically a level playing field as each one sought his or her place, circle of friends, and understanding of the system. Of course, I had one thing working against me: I was a foreigner, even though I spoke the same language. Perhaps surprisingly, I have very few memories of being ostracized or feeling left out. The younger the child, the more adaptable he is. Then, after almost four years, we returned to the U.S. Once again I was the new kid, this time being more used to the Australian school system, accent and culture than my new American surroundings. But perhaps because this was my parents' home culture -- even home state (Texas) -- I somehow felt that this was home, even though it took some getting used to. But get used to it I did -- so much so that, when it came time to move back to Australia two and a half years later, I was distraught. I had grown quite comfortable in America, thank you, and had no desire to uproot once again and head back down under. This second time in Australia, in a new city, a new school, I most definitely felt like the outsider I was. I remember looking for my younger brother at lunch every day to commiserate. It was a daily pity party. It took several months for me to gradually acclimate myself, and frankly I'm not sure my brother ever did.

My wife and I spent Labor Day weekend in Boston this year, celebrating the marriage of my nephew and catching up with family we don't see nearly often enough. We also spent one serendipitous afternoon with two of my wife's girlfriends from middle school days. (My wife's family had moved to a town south of Boston from her native Jackson, Mississippi for three and a half years.) She had reconnected with these two friends on Facebook, but had not seen them in...wait for it...forty-six years! As I sat and watched and listened to the reunion of these three childhood friends, each now with a lifetime of experiences behind her, I found myself with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

As I imagined Becky, the eleven-year-old Mississippi belle with a lilting accent moving to crusty Massachusetts, where she most certainly was the outsider in the neighborhood and school, my own memories of the back-and-forths to and from Australia came flooding back. I could imagine all too well how she might have been ridiculed for her accent alone, much less her southern ways and mannerisms. And yet, before me were two women who had not only reached out to her as a newcomer, but formed a tri-fold bond that carried them through up to the high school years, when my wife returned with her family to Mississippi. It was so gratifying (and entertaining) to listen to them reminisce; one would remember something neither of the other two did, and there was more than a little laughter. After sitting together, walking through Boston's North End, then eating decadent cannoli together, Becky and I said a reluctant goodbye to two old/new friends who had left a permanent impression -- on both of us.

If an eleven-year-old boy or girl can feel like an outsider in a culture where his or her language is spoken, imagine what it is like for the thousands of Syrian, Iraqi and Afghani refugees pouring into Europe as I write this. No, there are no simple solutions to this crisis.

You may never have the opportunity to reach out to a Syrian refugee (but then again, you may). But might there be some outsider waiting for someone such as you?

Whether on the personal or the global scale, somehow, may a heart for the outsider win the day.

Stepping Outside, Pt. 3 - How International Experience Will Improve Your Job Prospects

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It's undeniable. We are in a global age where business, education, technology, and entertainment happen on a global scale. Most employers agree on a certain number of advantages that spending time abroad will add to your resumé. According to mba.com, here are six reasons why international experience -- whether study abroad, internships, or extended stays -- will improve your chances in today's ever-evolving global job market:

• During the job search process, you can stress how the skills you’ve gained will benefit the organization and add value to your role.
• Thanks to globalization, many companies look for international experience as they expand overseas operations, enter new markets, or develop international partnerships.
• With a strong understanding of cultural and business norms, you will be more effective in developing global solutions to universal problems.
• If you develop and lead a project while overseas, you will demonstrate that you are able to bridge cultural differences to deliver desired results.
• Studying abroad will strengthen your leadership, problem-solving, and communication skills, all of which are important in the workplace.
• Students who study abroad are viewed as independent, self-reliant, adaptable, open-minded, patient and tolerant.

If your experience abroad has included learning or perfecting a foreign language, that will add a whole new dimension to your intercultural competence. It is difficult to overstate the value of learning to communicate in a language other than your mother tongue. (See my ebook on the subject here.)

Are you past college age but still desiring to spend some substantial time overseas? There are more opportunities than you might think! Stay tuned!

One Man's Legacy -- to a Son and a City

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Some of the most poignant reporting I've heard on the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina comes from ESPN writer Wright Thompson, who has done a feature story for ESPN the Magazine on Katrina ten years later called "Beyond the Breach". Thompson was interviewed by WBUR host Lynn Mullins on Here and Now, where he tells about a handful of people he encountered during the several weeks he spent working on the story. I came away moved by more than one thing, but what I can't shake is the story of Steve Gleason, former New Orleans Saints player who is best known to the uninitiated because of a single play. It was the Saints' first night back in the Superdome after Katrina, and Gleason famously "stretched out his arms and blocked a punt in the opening series of a Monday Night Football game". A nine-foot statue now stands in front of the Superdome, Gleason's former "office," as he calls it, to commemorate this play. Fast forward to the present, where Gleason is paralyzed in a wheelchair, suffering the crippling effects of ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Knowing his days are numbered, Gleason has recorded hundreds of short videos for his almost four-year-old son, Rivers. The topics range from how to tie your shoes to how to change a flat tire -- it seems he has thought of just about everything Rivers will need to know on the road to manhood. How will this son ever be able to doubt that he had a father who loved him?

It seems Gleason feels similarly about his city. He was recently one of several individuals who were asked to write a love letter to the city of New Orleans on the tenth anniversary of the storm. After composing the letter, he cannot get through reading it without weeping. Although originally from Spokane, WA, he has owned the City of New Orleans as if he were born there.

Gleason will likely not live to see the rebirth of NOLA in its fullest, but he is not about to go out without hope. The T-shirts for his foundation, TEAM Gleason, say "No white flags."

"Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you...and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." - Jeremiah 29:7

World to the Wise tour 2015 - Recap

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Grazia

It's hard to put into words what the World to the Wise cultural tour does to a person. Part of that is that it does different things to different people. Some are overwhelmed with a sense of the gravitas of history -- how we are dwarfed, in a sense, by those who have gone before us and the magnitude of human experience in the places we visit. Standing in the midst of the Roman Forum or the Coliseum next door, or in the magnificence of St. Peter's Basilica or the Sistine Chapel, it is hard not to feel a sense of awe. Others are charmed by the simple and pristine beauty of the countryside of the Old Continent. During our stay in Tuscany, we are hosted by two Italian families whose lifestyle speaks of a serenity that calls to a place deep within us. We spent longer at their table than any of us are used to -- we simply had no place we would rather be.

And still others marvel at some of the greatest art the world has ever seen -- from the awe-inspiring Sistine Chapel ceiling and the David to the masters in the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay (we also visited Monet's famous house and gardens in the village of Giverny), we also try to notice the more subtle, less famous expressions of creativity everywhere we go. Paris is not only home to some of the great art treasures of the past, but it continues to be a city driven by creativity and innovation.

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Eagle and Child

And then there is London. Although most people know me as an avowed francophile (among other things!), I cannot get enough of London. Because I and many of our participants hail from the UK by descent, it feels a little like visiting distant cousins you're interested in getting to know better. Granted, it's much easier to visit London than to live there; you couldn't pay most of my British friends to live there. I will just let that be what it is and continue to enjoy the vitality and creative energy of that world class city. This year we saw The Lion King in the West End, and there was not a dry eye in my head. We topped off the tour with a day trip to the fabled city of Oxford, where some of the greatest minds have both studied and taught, and finished the day with a king's feast at the Eagle and Child, the now famous pub where C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their cohorts met for a pint and mutual encouragement.

How do we feel when we come home? The best kind of tired, but more importantly, extremely well fed.

Join us some time! Enter your email address on this page to get updates on next year's offerings.

Sacred Tears

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I sat across from my friend and watched him wipe a tear from his eye. We had just sat down in the coffee shop where my youngest son works as a barista. My son had greeted me as soon as we walked in the door with the usual bear hug, which had apparently restarted the flow of tears in my friend. Just 48 hours earlier he had been moving his oldest daughter into her dorm room, where he had built a special headboard for her bed out of an old wooden gate, making the room feel just that much homier. The university where she was starting is not in another state, nor even another city -- it is just a few miles from where her family lives. But the close proximity didn't change the fact that this was the end of an era in this close family, and the dad was feeling it acutely.

My misty-eyed friend went on to tell me what an incredible influence his daughter had had on the family, how she brightened the home with her cheerful outlook, her encouraging words and pure joie de vivre. My mind immediately flashed back to the day I dropped our oldest son off at university in a city two hours away. And then, two years later, putting our second son on a plane for Switzerland as he began his gap year after high school. And then, three years later, putting our third son on a plane for Hong Kong and mainland China for five months.

It obviously hurts so deeply because the love we share is so great. That we have been given the gift of such a close bond is not something to be taken for granted. Even though all three of our sons are now adults and -- believe it or not -- all live within ten minutes of us now, my heart was immediately taken back to the emotions of those initial separations. The end of an era and the beginning of a new one.

There is no other ache like it, and neither I nor my friend would trade it for the world.

Stepping Outside, Part 2 - How Spending Time Abroad Makes You a Better Problem Solver

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In my last post, I said these two words alone can change your life: stepping outside. Whether it's across the street to a neighbor from a different culture or across the ocean, separating oneself from one's home subculture is a vital step in the maturing process. Whether studying abroad, volunteering with a charity or mission organization, or taking your work with you, living in a foreign culture will expand your horizons like very little else. It will also make you a better problem solver.

When Becky and I conduct the World to the Wise cultural tours, we don't hire a tour bus driver, but take public transportation whenever and wherever possible. We teach our participants how to navigate the different subway and occasionally bus systems, and by the end of our stay in a given city they are generally able to find their own way around the city. Just the process of figuring out how to use the transportation system in a foreign country is a significant step in problem solving. It's like each person has his or her own Amazing Race.

Let's be honest, though -- we are there for just a few days and are there as tourists. The real rubber meets the road when you are placed in a foreign culture for an extended period of time. A radical change of environment forces you to adapt. You quickly learn that each day is no longer business as usual, and as a result your senses are sharpened. In the words of my erudite oldest son, who spent a semester studying Arabic in Morocco and part of a summer in Uganda, you experience the "beauty and richness of discomfort". When you shop for groceries you learn a whole new system. When you are responsible for paying for goods and services, you learn how business is done. You sometimes have to work hard to communicate with your neighbors. Even in a country where your own language is spoken, you become aware of sometimes subtle, sometimes radical differences in outlook and lifestyle.

The result? Sure, a little culture shock in the short term. But in the long term? You become more capable of looking at situations from multiple angles, of viewing life from others' perspective -- and after all, isn't that the very definition of maturity?

How has spending time abroad made you a better problem solver?

If you would like to connect with David on this topic or invite him to speak on it, contact him here.