It's a Smaller World After All

I have two reflections on this last day of the year.

First, as I look back on 2009 I'm struck that it's a smaller world after all.

It's a smaller world when I can include folks from every reach of the globe in my daily, real-time Twitter-sphere. It's a smaller world when elementary school chums and co-workers from decades ago re-emerge and re-enter my life via Facebook.

It's a smaller world when we share the same entertainment (think Susan Boyle on YouTube) and family highlight reels (such as the dance-down-the-aisle wedding procession that sent smiles virally and even influenced an episode of The Office) with strangers and folks from faraway lands.

Second, as we close a decade, I'm asking myself how I would have approached it had I known at the outset what it would hold. I might have been immobilized with fear. Time Magazine dubbed it the "Worst Decade Ever". What if I knew about September 11th, Hurricane Katrina or the economic crash? What if I knew my young cousin would lose his leg in Iraq or that I would lose my job and lose my mom?

Retrospection makes me feel strangely comforted. I certainly don't feel like this was the worst decade of my life. In fact, I wouldn't have missed it for anything and what I remember most are its victories: my co-patriots mobilizing to help each other in times of great need. And its lessons: I've learned to serve my community, invest in deeper friendships, take personal risks, love my family better and savor small blessings.

This perspective makes me trust and lean into God's divine strategy to give me just enough light to see my way clear for this day and just enough grace for each moment. It really doesn't matter what the next decade has in store. I have everything I need for today.

In 2006 Sisters Community Church hosted a "Firefighter Appreciation Night"

to thank those who battled the Black Crater Fire, which burned thousands of acres and forced hundreds of residents to evacuate.

Our heroes, just off the front lines and covered in ash, were presented with hundreds of pies and new socks. Some cried.