He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

Today on my flight over to Dublin was the first time I've really been able to enjoy the view out a plane window. I realized in a new way how small we all are in the grand scheme of things. We walk on the skin of this earth that that hangs in balance in the black void of space. I'm a fan of the show Doctor Who, and despite the fact that its thought of a a quirky, science-y show, it often has surprising insight. One of my favorite lines says something about the universe being vast, complicated, and ridiculous, but sometimes impossible things happen that we call miracles. Even though my ideas are an amalgamation of creation and evolution, I think that line from Doctor Who holds true about our planet. In the whole universe, there is one earth, and it's beautiful. I think people to often forget how impossible the chances of this planet being here are, so they don't realize what a miracle it is. Right from the start of the Bible, we see "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." ( Genesis 1:1-2). We have this tiny little planet in a sea of inhabitable darkness, that's held in place by the pull from our sun; yet God Himself decided that He wanted a something in the middle of it all. If He took the time to show off, maybe we should take more time to notice what a miracle it is.

My Little Blue Book

School got out here really early for Christmas break, so I've had travel plans lined up for months. I'm going to be spending a week in Dublin, and I'm leaving in a few days. For a while, I've known that the other gaps have other travel plans. The girl from Ecuador is planning to spend Christmas in Spain with her aunt. Just in the last few days, though, I've found out that she has to have a visa to go there, and they keep asking her for more details and documents, so she still doesn't know when she'll get to leave. In a panic, I sent a message to the girl that was in my job last year. "Do I need a visa? I thought you could go to other countries for short vacations without having a visa. " And then I found out that was my American privilege talking. Because I have a nice navy blue, American passport, I can land in most European countries, tell the immigration officer that I'm there on vacation and be sent on my way. Meanwhile my friend has been trudging through paperwork for over a week. As is often the case in situations of racial/ethnic/gender inequality, I initially felt guilty. Guilty that I can hop on a plane to Dublin without a second thought, when she can't even have a layover in some countries without a visa, even if she doesn't leave the airport. For her to travel to most countries outside South America she either needs a visa along with any additional paperwork the country may require, or has to pay a large amount of money to go as part of a tour group. As I thought about it, I wondered if this is strictly a matter of my American privilege, or if any of it has to do with how relationships between two countries are. For instance, if I wanted to go to Russia, would I have a similar experience, or does my American passport come with fairly universal ease of travel? Since I never traveled outside the United States before I came here, I really don't have the experience or knowledge to answer that question. For now, I'm just praying that my friend can get everything to work out because no one deserves to be alone for the holidays.