Broken Cookies
by Oliver Carlos
When did you learn that the world was round? I knew that for the first time when I was 8 years old. It was summer vacation right after Grade 1. My Mom bought me my first globe.
Before that, I knew about treasure maps because of the story books and cartoons I got to see. In fact, I started drawing some. I would draw large chunks of land on my Grade 1 pad paper. Since I can already write, I labeled them with countries I heard of — USA, China, Spain, Philippines, and Japan. Each large chunk is one country on my map.
My Mom probably noticed my erroneous concept of countries so she decided to buy me a globe. The globe was small, it’s the size of an apple. I guess she doesn’t have much money then, thus she couldn’t afford a larger globe. But anyway, that small globe was good enough to spark in me a great interest in geography. I later earned a degree anchored on that field. Next to History, Geography has been one of the most favorite subjects I teach in the colleges I worked in.
The first time I held the globe in my little hands was indeed very memorable. Three things shocked me. First, I was surprised to find out that the world was round. I also noticed that it’s tilted a bit. “This is how the world looks like,” said my Mom. It’s different from the treasure maps I knew. From that point onwards, my world had changed.
Second, I was surprised to see the layout of the countries. Many of them were right beside each other, with only a demarcation line separating them. In my self-made maps, a country is one chuck of land. In the globe, several countries share a large chunk of land. I saw that China and USSR are beside each other, and so are Canada and USA. I wondered how the border looks like? Is there a line drawn on the soil?
The third and biggest thing that shocked me was the appearance of my country. The Philippines isn’t a single piece of land, but is a bunch of broken cookies! Oh my! I felt bad about it. It had a psychological notion that my country was inferior to the others. I really felt sad.
In life, we also have our own visualizations of our ideal world. We have our expectations of how circumstances in our lives would roll out. But most of the time, these are far from reality. The real world is disappointing when we realize what’s it all about.
But we should not let this fact steal our joy. The word of God commands us to rejoice at all times, regardless of who we are, where we are, and whatever situation we are in. Our eyes shouldn’t dwell on the realities of the world, but rather on the realities of who God is. Don’t despair of your expectations of the real world didn’t pan out as expected, when circumstances we hope for don’t fall into place. We must remember the fact that we have a God who reigns in this world, just as what Psalm 97:1 (NLV) says:
“The Lord rules. Let the earth be full of joy. Let the many islands be glad.”
The rest of Psalm 97 gives several reasons why we should be glad: He is righteous and fair (verse 2), he destroys his enemies (verse 3), he listens to prayers and answers them (verse 8), he keeps his people safe (verse 10), and he brightens life by giving joy (verse 11).
This psalm points out that the Lord reigns over all the earth, over mountains, plains, and islands. He reigns over his people too. Therefore, we should rejoice over this fact.
The landforms may be seen as symbolisms of who you are. Some people are like continents, some are archipelagos. Some are big, some are small; some are whole, some are not. If you feel your life is like a bunch of broken cookies, do not despair. Meditate on the promises he gave you in Psalm 97. Remember that the Lord reigns over you and over your world! Be glad!
