Yes, yes -- this immediately reminded me of the Soviet Union, and of Russia today. My daughter is six years old, and has never been in Russia, but she has learned the Russian language since birth and thinks of herself as Russian. Much of that sense of belonging is due to old Soviet cartoons that she watches almost every day, many of which were created explicitly to knit together a multiethnic empire. She has learned about Ukrainian and Georgian farmers, Chukchi fishermen, Russian boyars and Central Asian warriors. She has learned the myths and stories of a dozen disparate peoples, all united by the Russian language. I regularly tell anyone who will listen that these are the best cartoons in the world. In an unexpected way they have prepared her for a globalized world. She is now in her second year at an International Baccalaureate Spanish-English dual language school in a poor Hispanic area of southeast Houston, and is starting to speak Spanish with her classmates. She tells me she wants her to teach her Arabic and French. Her classmates come from all over the Americas. It is as different from my own all-White childhood in northern Maine as it is possible to be. The differences between the children are merely individual -- there is so much diversity that there are no groups of children from a similar background. She is just one of everyone. We live in a world in which it is possible to see the beginnings of one common humanity. I cannot tell you how glad I am.
Hey Phillip. Thanks for your wonderful story! I think I know the cartoon series she's been watching. The Mountain of Precious Stones? They are great. And represent a crack in the empire for sure.
"Every empire has a hole in it. It claims to bring Heaven on earth, but its “surrogate heaven” feels too suffocating. Yet, every empire has a crack in it that becomes a window for the fresh air to come in. All idols have cracks, so we can look through them and find ourselves in God’s embrace with rose petals falling over our heads."
Excellently put, Eugene. And I suspect we may have more than one hole in our current societies!
Yes, yes -- this immediately reminded me of the Soviet Union, and of Russia today. My daughter is six years old, and has never been in Russia, but she has learned the Russian language since birth and thinks of herself as Russian. Much of that sense of belonging is due to old Soviet cartoons that she watches almost every day, many of which were created explicitly to knit together a multiethnic empire. She has learned about Ukrainian and Georgian farmers, Chukchi fishermen, Russian boyars and Central Asian warriors. She has learned the myths and stories of a dozen disparate peoples, all united by the Russian language. I regularly tell anyone who will listen that these are the best cartoons in the world. In an unexpected way they have prepared her for a globalized world. She is now in her second year at an International Baccalaureate Spanish-English dual language school in a poor Hispanic area of southeast Houston, and is starting to speak Spanish with her classmates. She tells me she wants her to teach her Arabic and French. Her classmates come from all over the Americas. It is as different from my own all-White childhood in northern Maine as it is possible to be. The differences between the children are merely individual -- there is so much diversity that there are no groups of children from a similar background. She is just one of everyone. We live in a world in which it is possible to see the beginnings of one common humanity. I cannot tell you how glad I am.
Hey Phillip. Thanks for your wonderful story! I think I know the cartoon series she's been watching. The Mountain of Precious Stones? They are great. And represent a crack in the empire for sure.
"Every empire has a hole in it. It claims to bring Heaven on earth, but its “surrogate heaven” feels too suffocating. Yet, every empire has a crack in it that becomes a window for the fresh air to come in. All idols have cracks, so we can look through them and find ourselves in God’s embrace with rose petals falling over our heads."
Excellently put, Eugene. And I suspect we may have more than one hole in our current societies!
Yes, I am sure there are more!