Rain, Culture, and God not being American
As I got off my bus late yesterday afternoon, I was caught in a summer storm. Just an hour before the downpour, it was 38F/ 99C. Hot. Hot that makes every pore and sweat gland emit water from your body. Hot because there is no AC - anywhere - and cooling off by the occasional light breeze is the only reprieve from the furnace. As I stepped off the bus into the wet, my urge was to run for cover. I was walking. My destination was about 5 blocks away. There was no car awaiting me. I could run the 5 blocks. I could dash from cover to cover trying to stay as dry as possible. Or, I could just walk in the rain. Unlike Gene Kelly, singing in the rain toward his destination, I just walked. The rain felt good despite feeling it all the way through my sweat-drenched clothes.
This morning I am reminded of the consequences of living abroad. Being back in the setting of one of my most transformative experiences, I am flooded with flashbacks. I will be totally honest by saying many of the flashbacks center around painful experiences. The transformation came through "hard". However, among the “hard”, there are also lessons gained that transform you for the rest of your life. Here are just a few.
The expat community in Vienna is small and connected. There are always people coming and going. There are some rare cases of those who live here for 5, 10, 15 years or more. No matter the duration of stay, there is always an address change hanging in the balance. Living this way, in relationships you learn to go deep quickly and hold on loosely. Time is not a guaranteed luxury. You learn a few things about relationships.
Make the most of your time. Release people to their next step
Cultural adaptation takes time. You learn the basics pretty easy: store hours, common greetings, take your shoes off at the door when entering a home, wear sleeveless shirts in the summer, buy good shoes. However, it's the subtle and long-term transitions that take more time. Once you learn them, there are there for good. Stepping back into this culture in which we've been absent for one year has seemed like riding the proverbial bicycle. This adaptation I believe is a good consequence for navigating life.
Learn to adapt. Live within the lessons learned.
The world is bigger than your backyard. When you travel, you learn valuable insight into the human condition. When you live abroad, you learn valuable insights into your own human condition. We like what we perceive as “normal”. Our normal is simply informed by our environment. By living in another culture, your sense of what is “normal” really evolves.
Experience new things. Normal is flexible.
Finally, you learn that God is bigger than your own culture. This is a big one. This may come as a shock, but God is not American. Because He created a world full of people who bear His image, living abroad gives you clear vision into the complexities of God. He comes in different colors, languages, and dress. God isn’t explained away in a 22-minute sermon. God is not selling self-help manuals on the best seller list of a Christian bookstore. God is not defined by a social media feed. God is more than a culture. God is a culture. There are characteristics of those who follow Him that transform color and language and dress and amount of deodorant used. God works in every culture. God speaks in every language. God is alive in His people all over the globe. God isn’t silent. God doesn’t have favorites. God loves humanity.
When I see God working outside my own culture, I see the greatness of a great Father.
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