When we think of epic
We often think of travel
Of exotic locations
And lots of danger
This is but one way
Of experiencing the world
You can truly understand the world
Even though you never travel
Some of the most important parts
Of almost every culture
Are not the geographical locations
Or how the country looks
Setting only determines to much
Today we have the luxury
Of reading about other cultures
To experience the best of them
In their own literature
From their own point of view
But in modern English translations
Travel is over rated
I learned in the military
That the exciting things in life
Are so dangerous and painful
It is worth it to find a better way
We live in a bubble in America
But understanding the world
Does not require exposing yourself to
People who both hate you
And actively seek to hurt you
The most important thing
To most people in the world today
And throughout most history
Is who or what they believe in
Which are called religions or philosophies
The focus of religions
Is not on ourselves
But on the deity of worship
Or the ideas of the philosophy we follow
Or both
In America we are obsessed
With how everything relates to us
But the world and reality itself
Are much bigger and more interesting
Than just what we understand and feel
One of the joys of religion and philosophy
Is being part of something greater than ourselves
It brings great joy and peace
To know there are others that believe the same as you
But greater yet to know
That there are worlds beyond
Just the one of the here and now
That there is Someone who created us
And Someone who is both good
And truly cares
To the point that He proved that with both
His choices and ultimately His sacrifices
So as much as we accumulate
The only things we take with us
Are our memories and experiences
But more significantly
Our relationship with God
We spend most of our lives
Waiting for the next part of life
But there is a time when all the waiting will end
And we begin to experience the majority of our lives
This does not fully begin until after our deaths
But we can begin to experience Heaven on earth
By understanding who God is
And sharing this with other believers
This is because once we choose God
He has a plan for us long before we die
The Kingdom of God is both on Earth and Heaven
The ruler of this world is pure evil
But the he is not the Greatest Power even in this world
There are things we can do
That are both greater in importance
And having longer lasting value
Than even studying other cultures
Some of this in involves learning more about God
But this also involves sacrificing things for Him
We soon learn this world is evil
For some this takes longer
This is one of the purposes of Heaven
Life is hard
The people who would be fun
To hang out with in the countries
That seem fun to travel to
Are mostly the rich
If we spent time with
The average person
This would likely break our hearts
The way we treat people
As well as the other creations of God
Is atrocious to say the least
It is much worse in the majority of the world
It is not that people there are worse than us
But that there are costs to our current lifestyle
In our country
Our country is better to live in
Because our trash and factories
Are not mostly in our own country
We will learn this the next few decades
As we bring factories back to the homeland
Also the scale of everything
Has been growing exponentially
So the factories’ bad effects on us
Are likely much more severe
Than they were decades ago
If I describe in a few words
Why I don’t travel
It makes me sound ignorant
But I probably know more about
The countries I have never traveled to
Than most world travelers
I enjoy reading about world history, world literature, and world religion
Which are often the same pieces of writing
But going outside my country
Would put my safety at risk
And it would only break my heart
Knowing that our lifestyle
Is based on the suffering of others
I already know this
Nothing much surprises me anymore
Except God’s love for us
We often think of travel
Of exotic locations
And lots of danger
This is but one way
Of experiencing the world
You can truly understand the world
Even though you never travel
Some of the most important parts
Of almost every culture
Are not the geographical locations
Or how the country looks
Setting only determines to much
Today we have the luxury
Of reading about other cultures
To experience the best of them
In their own literature
From their own point of view
But in modern English translations
Travel is over rated
I learned in the military
That the exciting things in life
Are so dangerous and painful
It is worth it to find a better way
We live in a bubble in America
But understanding the world
Does not require exposing yourself to
People who both hate you
And actively seek to hurt you
The most important thing
To most people in the world today
And throughout most history
Is who or what they believe in
Which are called religions or philosophies
The focus of religions
Is not on ourselves
But on the deity of worship
Or the ideas of the philosophy we follow
Or both
In America we are obsessed
With how everything relates to us
But the world and reality itself
Are much bigger and more interesting
Than just what we understand and feel
One of the joys of religion and philosophy
Is being part of something greater than ourselves
It brings great joy and peace
To know there are others that believe the same as you
But greater yet to know
That there are worlds beyond
Just the one of the here and now
That there is Someone who created us
And Someone who is both good
And truly cares
To the point that He proved that with both
His choices and ultimately His sacrifices
So as much as we accumulate
The only things we take with us
Are our memories and experiences
But more significantly
Our relationship with God
We spend most of our lives
Waiting for the next part of life
But there is a time when all the waiting will end
And we begin to experience the majority of our lives
This does not fully begin until after our deaths
But we can begin to experience Heaven on earth
By understanding who God is
And sharing this with other believers
This is because once we choose God
He has a plan for us long before we die
The Kingdom of God is both on Earth and Heaven
The ruler of this world is pure evil
But the he is not the Greatest Power even in this world
There are things we can do
That are both greater in importance
And having longer lasting value
Than even studying other cultures
Some of this in involves learning more about God
But this also involves sacrificing things for Him
We soon learn this world is evil
For some this takes longer
This is one of the purposes of Heaven
Life is hard
The people who would be fun
To hang out with in the countries
That seem fun to travel to
Are mostly the rich
If we spent time with
The average person
This would likely break our hearts
The way we treat people
As well as the other creations of God
Is atrocious to say the least
It is much worse in the majority of the world
It is not that people there are worse than us
But that there are costs to our current lifestyle
In our country
Our country is better to live in
Because our trash and factories
Are not mostly in our own country
We will learn this the next few decades
As we bring factories back to the homeland
Also the scale of everything
Has been growing exponentially
So the factories’ bad effects on us
Are likely much more severe
Than they were decades ago
If I describe in a few words
Why I don’t travel
It makes me sound ignorant
But I probably know more about
The countries I have never traveled to
Than most world travelers
I enjoy reading about world history, world literature, and world religion
Which are often the same pieces of writing
But going outside my country
Would put my safety at risk
And it would only break my heart
Knowing that our lifestyle
Is based on the suffering of others
I already know this
Nothing much surprises me anymore
Except God’s love for us