My World, THE World

What do we really mean when we say that we live in this world, this planet called Earth?

In reality, we do live in this world. But yet, many of us live in a much smaller, narrower reality that does not quite recognise - at least not on a regular basis -that we truly live on a planet called Earth. For instance, I live in an area sandwiched between Bishan and Thomson. Everyday, I travel down the road to work and back. On days, I travel westward to Church and then back. My "world" seems to be defined within the boundaries of my tiny geographical movements within a small part of this little island called Singapore, which can hardly be spotted with the naked eye on the world map. I have been to neighbouring countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia and then not so neighbouring countries like Amsterdam's airport on transit, St. Petersburg and parts of Italy. But when I'm back in Singapore, my world becomes reduced to the routine north and west of the island, stretching on rare occasions to the east and south. And even though Singapore has since been recognised to be not as insignificant and unknown as just a puny red dot on the map - it ranks as one of the top in the world in income inequality - does it really mean that I truly "live in the world"?

If I were to live with my parents and sister under the same roof, would I not at some point in time think about them or consider their needs despite how inconsiderate and self-centred I may be most of the time? If I were to live on a level above my neighbour, would I not consider what an irritant I am to them when I start dribbling my basketball around the house? If I were to walk along the pavement out of my house, could I blame a bird for not aiming his poo elsewhere than on my head when he is taking his break on the tree I walk under? I probably can hurl a few remarks at him but yet, what he does and does not do are inseparable from me because he and the tree and the pavement belong to the confines of "my world", and so does my family, neighbours, friends, colleagues, and even strangers along the way.

But, the world is far larger than what my lifestyle defines it to be. And I really do not, on normal circumstances, think very much of what lies beyond "my world". This video excellently strings together all our tiny "worlds" to show us very explicitly that there is a far wider, larger reality of what "THE world", of what "This IS OUR world" looks like.

And yet, I do not really think about this world I live in, which exists in the vast exterior of "my world". Because if I did, I would be thinking about it very often, like I do to my family, my neighbours, my colleagues and friends I meet in "my world". If I did, I would have my lifestyle reflecting my care and concern as how I would be considerate towards my neighbours. If I really do live in this world, on this planet called Earth; if I am a citizen of Earth, and Earth is my home, would I still be contributing to its destruction by my lifestyle? Do I not live in a much smaller reality of "my world" when I forget or blatantly ignore how my lifestyle is disfiguring the beauty of LIFE in my "larger world"? How myopically I see my life, my world, my planet.

When God created our world, He saw that it was good. He gave us all we need for survival in His creation of the earth. In turn, we are to be masters of the creatures in the sea and on dry land. And what abusive masters we have been to the earth that continues to give and give to us till it hurts, and yet, is still giving. Just as I cannot walk under a bird and not run any risk at all of having it poo on me; just as I cannot defy nature by skydiving without my parachute and insist on landing as I wish in one unbroken piece, I cannot deny my natural existence in a larger world even though it is convenient not to admit this relationship between me and Earth that knights me with the fundamental and inescapable responsibility that every human person must live up to as masters, protectors and carers of Earth.

What are we doing to God's creation of our planet and also, of ourselves?
While Father Ignatius Bindu Hembrom plants 3000 trees a month for his world, how are we going to affect our tiny "my worlds" while keeping in mind the larger world we truly belong to?

Tuesday 8 November 2011
4.31pm