July 12, 2007
A couple of weeks ago I ordered a new shaving brush from a shop in Germany. Standard shipping was $14 and I thought that to be reasonable since it was coming from Europe. Immediately the company sent me an email confirmation of my order and an internet link that would allow me to track its progress. I am fascinated by this new technology and so I “tuned in” to see how my package progressed.
Long story short, my shaving brush was in Germany on Wednesday and the next morning it was delivered to my office at precisely 9:01 a.m. This may not come as a surprise to those of you who regularly ship internationally, but I was stunned. I followed the flight from Germany to Memphis, then the early morning flight from Memphis to Dallas, then observed the scan at 6 a.m. on Thursday that said it was out for delivery. Even with the advantage of the time zone changes, I would say that is pretty good service for “standard” shipping.
We live in an amazing world that is shrinking daily. The purchase of a shaving brush can be confirmed by email instantaneously, the financial transaction is immediate and seamless, and the brush can move from the hands of a German store manager to my hands in one day. This would have seemed like science fiction to not only my grandfather who died in 1960, but to my father who died in 1987.
Here is the part that I do not understand: with a greater capacity to communicate and understand one another than ever before, why is it that our world is torn apart by strife, hatred, and bigotry? With the ability to do business internationally and expand economic opportunity worldwide, why are there so many who are determined to pit nation against nation, culture against culture, religion against religion? Why is it that our ABILITY to communicate with and understand one another is not matched by the WILL to do so?
As I ponder this dilemma of the new flat world in which we live, I can’t help but think of the Bible and the fact that life today isn’t much different than it was 2,000 years ago. The same strife and bigotry that you read about today can be found within the pages of the Old and New Testaments. The only thing that has changed is the technology.
When Jesus was asked “Who is my neighbor?” He didn’t give the expected answer. He didn’t describe what a neighbor looks like or where a neighbor lives or how a neighbor talks. He really didn’t even answer the question, but instead He told a story about what it means to BE a neighbor. This remarkable man understood a timeless secret: being neighbors has nothing to do with distance or proximity, with the ability to communicate or do business, with technology or the lack of. It is about seeing in the other person – on the other side of the road or the other side of the world – a child of God who is truly a brother or sister. Until we get that part right, even Fedex isn’t going to really change the world.
