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Google Maps – God Maps

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It would appear that I have not restricted how Google engages with me on my phone. Big brother is truly watching me.

I recently received my 2022 Google Maps timeline and it was quite interesting. Assuming it is fairly accurate, in 2022:

  • I went to 9 countries, 72 cities, 495 places
  • I travelled 74,503 kilometres
  • I walked 1,005 kilometres
  • I drove 33,230 kilometres
  • I flew 39,282 kilometres
  • I cycled 385 kilometres
  • I spent 198 hours in restaurants

As it is early January, I am in the process of working through an annual reflection exercise as well. I am a reflective person on a consistent basis, yet there is something about the process of looking at a specific period of time – a year – and pausing to determine if you are living the life you desire to live. As they say, we overestimate what we can accomplish in a day and underestimate what we can accomplish in a year. So looking back on a year can be a good thing.

In all honesty though, I have seen more and more that most people don’t live life intentionally, they simply respond to what is in front of them, and typically mimic the actions and priorities of those around them. As one mentor has stated, “Most people don’t live their lives, they simply accept their lives.”

I had a mentoring call recently with a young man who truly desires to follow Jesus and have an impact. He was talking about the goals he wants to set for himself for the upcoming year, something he said he has never done before but believes it will truly help him live the life he believes God is calling him to. And yet, he knows he gets distracted easily and is fearful that he will be clear about the goals but then not achieve them. As the saying goes, “We have uphill aspirations and downhill habits.” I am looking forward to coming alongside him as he chooses intentionality for the upcoming year.

So as I look at my Google Maps report, it is good to consider how impactful these 9 country 72 city visits and 74,000+ kilometres of travel were. Can I declare that I lived intentionally in 2022? Was I in the places I was supposed to be with the people I was supposed to be with? When I sat in those restaurants, were the conversations meaningful, providing encouragement and challenge as appropriate? Can I say that I was living the life that I am so often calling others to live?

How about you? Are you swept up in the river of the culture around you, doing whatever those around you are doing? 

Reflect on these amazing verses in 1 Corinthians 2.

10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.

13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others. 16 For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.

As you move into a new year, how is your mind? Is it in sync with the mind of Christ? Are you allowing God’s Spirit to search your spirit and reveal things to you? You see, “people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths.”

When you receive your “God Maps” at the end of 2023, what will it reveal about your year?

For the Kingdom.

Death In Culture

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As with many conversations I have with my friends around the world, the topic of death was an interesting one with Oscar Muriu from Nairobi, Kenya. We have become good friends and are enjoying time together in ministry.

One day we were discussing death and how our cultures think about it, and I was intrigued by his thoughts. Oscar has travelled regularly around the world and I believe has done a better job in understanding North American (or Western) culture than I/we have in understanding his culture.He shared with me the seemingly opposite way that we think about death based on someone’s age. 

When someone young in North America dies, let’s say a 5 year old or a teenager, we grieve the loss and use words such as “tragic”, and phrases like “they had so much life to live and it was cut short.” When someone older dies, let’s say someone in their 80’s or 90’s, sure we are sad, but we say things like “they had a good life” or “thankful for the time we had together.” It isn’t as tragic as someone younger.

In Oscar’s Kenyan context however, the conversation is flipped. When someone young dies, sure there is sadness, but their thinking is more around the idea that the child never had the opportunity to contribute much to society and the community so there isn’t that much to grieve. Yet when an older person dies, their sadness is great because they have lost one of their wisdom keepers. This person has lived and experienced much in life and has provided wisdom for the younger generation, and they are now gone.

I’ve thought about this conversation often and shared it with many people. It has caused me to reflect on the many assumptions our culture gives us that we believe must be right for everyone. 

As a follower of Jesus, and as one who also guides others in their journey of discipleship, conversations such as this one have caused me to reflect even deeper on what scripture has to say. What could I be missing? How often have I tried to get scripture to validate what my culture believes instead of what it is actually saying?

Let’s think about death briefly. In the bible I read about the Apostle Paul in Philippians 1 when he states “I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.” I hear Jesus’ prayer in John 17 as he yearns “Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.” Is this what I pray about?

The view of death in my North American context is so different, and this I believe has been fully adopted in the Christian context. What do we do with these verses? I’ve never seen someone pray along with the Apostle Paul about longing to be with Christ. It is never the “verse of the day” in the Bible App that we are to reflect on throughout our day.

I don’t have the exact answer for the thoughts I’m sharing, other than the idea that we must embrace all of scripture and try to reason away what we don’t think fits. And perhaps at times, our friends from different cultures will be instrumental in prompting us to think differently. 

For the Kingdom.