Small planet, global village

I saw how prayer on one side of the world can heal a problem on the other side.

Kathryn Jones Dunton

"Where is the global village?" I wondered. We had walked by store after store with signs in different languages. Our guide for this tour, a field trip for a class on globalization, described how the various ethnic groups there—Brazilian, Indian, and Chinese—worked side by side but refused to patronize each other's businesses.

After hearing of the lack of community in this town we were visiting, I realized that although people from around the planet are having more and more opportunities to interact, the formation of a global village is not a foregone conclusion.

In my teaching career I'd had opportunities to help form "global villages" as I worked with students from diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds and made attempts at breaking down the walls of separation that divided us. I found a deep respect and love for all people, regardless of their labels of race, ethnicity, or religion. I knew that narrow, prejudiced thinking which stereotypes people could yield to a broader, more inclusive concept. No matter what my eyes saw or how my students saw themselves, each one was, in fact, the child of God.

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