I’ve been hearing for years that the world is getting smaller, that we live in a global community. And it is true, right in a small American town, in a small American state.
This week, teaching a short course to Humanities students at our seminary in Cheshire, CT, I’ve experienced “global” in person. The seminarians I’m working with are, well, from all over the globe: Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Korea, Hong Kong, Germany. The Americans are from around the country, including Texas, California, Ohio and a pair from Kansas City.
I’m afraid few people would think of me as a global type. I’m pure American, which means I only speak English, want plenty of ice in my Coke and expect there to be a Dunkin Donut shop every few blogs on every street.
My students are learning to be creative writers and persuasive speakers, often in their second or third language. That impresses a unilingual like me.
I worked in London for a couple years and quickly learned that Americans and Brits are often separated by a common language. The English don’t speak proper English as we Americans have perfected it. On the other hand, I have an Irish daughter-in-law whose English is more enchanting than any American I know.
But I’m straying from my central point; the Legion of Christ is a global enterprise, as is the Catholic Church it serves. My students are Legionaries, not Mexican Legionaries, Korean Legionaries or Americans Legionaries. The Legion – and the Church – were global before it was popular to be global.
The only border we really worry about is between good and evil.
