"What an honor and privilege it is to be upset by trivia."
I spent some time with my nephew this evening hearing how things are in Chirundu, Zambia. He just returned from the banana farm and orphanage we've helped get going over there. We didn't have much time to talk, but we talked enough to remind me of my experience there a couple of years ago.
He brought back some coffee from the lodge where we stayed, which brings back memories of me sitting on the porch early in the morning with my coffee listening to the riffles on the river and the monkeys playing and fighting in the trees overhead. Through those memories, I am reminded that there exist places where life does not move at a frenzied pace all the time, and the clock is not society's master.
He brought back a set of drums made in one of the local villages, which brings back memories of listening to people who have every right to be miserable sing joyfully in perfect six part harmony to the beat of the drum and no other musical instrument. He observed, as did I, that none of them sing well individually. But put them all together, and not one is out of tune or off beat. I am reminded that the word 'community' actually represents something much more important and meaningful than it does here at home.
He asked me whether I remember Forbes, the boatman, and I do. Forbes is, I believe, both the ugliest and nicest human being I've ever met. And if I met Moses, the bartender at the lodge, and I did. Moses was always happy, always had a joke to tell and was always at his post. I asked him if he lives there, and he assured me he does not. I am reminded how real, how human, these people are, and I am reminded how much I genuinely liked them.
I asked him if he remembered to take his malaria medicine, and he did. I am reminded how many terrible diseases run rampant through that country and how much suffering they cause. Malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, etc. are prevalent, especially in rural areas. There is no medicine to even dampen the symptoms, let alone cure.
Then I warned him about one thing to be aware of coming back. I told him to observe how mad people here get at McDonald's because there was too much ketchup on their cheeseburger or some equally trivial bullshit thing. Half of the people on the planet go to bed hungry more nights than they go to bed full. People in other places gladly bear hardship that we can't even imagine here. We are so blessed as a nation and as a people that we should be ashamed to complain about anything ever again.
He said he had already noticed such things, and I was glad. We discussed how privileged and blessed we are to have such things to complain about, and agreed to use such incidents in our own lives or in our observation of others as an opportunity to be truly, genuinely thankful and appreciative of the very good lives we have been given.
We didn't talk long, but I think he had a good trip.