8.21.09

Journal Excerpt (6.6.09):

Fast and testimony meeting today. It was a very nice meeting and I felt very touched by the Spirit. I was pondering about friendship and how the Spirit helps us to be equals. Or, perhaps not to be equals so much as to help us feel the equality and brotherhood with which we have already been endowed. It is a beautiful feeling: one of power and potential and also of humility and true happiness.

This thought has been floating in and out of my mind for some time and especially in the last week. I have asked myself, "why do I dislike so much noticing differences and making generalizations about foreign cultures?" I think it is a combination of a couple of things, parts of which are described above.

Firstly, I have yet to find a difference between cultures which stems from anything but societal trends with their roots in the basic human characteristics that we all share. In other words, I believe all human traditions, actions, and interactions, stem from simple human characteristics and emotions; to see differences as isolated events or characteristics and unrelated to oneself is to deny the basic human nature that we collectively share. These characteristics extend beyond the material world of possession and even beyond the surface world of personality. It goes much deeper and this leads back into my original point.

We are all children of the same Father. As such, we are all of equal worth and of equal status. And, even beyond being equal, we are all brothers and sister. That is, we are all connected in a wonderful and infinite relationship.

To me, I think that is what I love most about international travel and living among people of a different culture: learning, making friends, playing football, feeling loved, and loving my brothers and sisters. Surface differences exist, but deep similarities are the seeds of true friendship.