Two Days Later What I'm Learning

Two Days Later my students could still tell you the basic content of the presentation they had heard by Chimamanda Adejie on Tuesday.


And yet!!!
When they began to brainstorm over topics they might like to explore for the informative speech they are assigned to give, their topics revealed that they haven't yet grasped that
THEY ARE WAY TOO OFTEN LIVING THE SINGLE STORY.


We've talked about worldview throughout the semester.  Good form is a component of public speaking that many think is "the whole ball of wax" and yet Hitler was a masterful "presenter" with lots of charisma.


MOST in the thinking world today refer to him as a mastermind of evil.


So SUBSTANCE has been emphasized as a major component that I wanted them to develop.


And yet!


"We need to be sensitive to the fact that we're not all at the same level of understanding in this." (The Message 1 Corinthians 8)


Am I making a stretch in relating this post to Africa?


You'll have to decide!  
I guess I am discussing how much more we have in common in the two worlds than we are different.  We ALL struggle with living with "singleness" (stereotyping)
We all tend to be insensitive to others' understanding and expecting others to "see things the way we do." to learn what we know and to do it at our own rate of learning.  


A friend whose 5 month old grandson is in a children's hospital told me, "I'm amazed by all the level of suffering going on with families who have very sick children up here."  


Out of sight, out of mind  isn't just something for my friend to learn, but all of us who seek to get outside our comfort zones, must explore with and pray for others different from us!