Understanding Life From My Microcosm

I have a vague memory of a playground game. King of the Hill. If my memory is correct, you conquered a hill by pulling, pushing, and gouging your way to the top. Then, you defended your position against everyone else. Share your position and you have a team against all rivals. Why did we play this game? Maybe after a season of world wars, we played games that mimicked real life. IDK… (I don’t know) Could it be that the game was a microcosm of life around the globe?

A microcosm is simply “a community, place, or situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristic qualities or features of something much larger.” What we experience in miniature is simply an extension of what’s happening in the larger sphere.

Consider the “insurrection” that happened in Washington DC. For months and months, the local scene has put up with marching, riots, violence, occupation, invasion, and other such activities. Politicians seemed powerless against the power of the people. In my neck of the woods, a city councilwoman opened the doors to city hall for the marchers to occupy…she was party to the situation it would seem. Slowly life returned to normal.

With all that’s happened in the local scene, are we surprised at what happened yesterday? We shouldn’t be. This madness will play out for months and perhaps years to come.

I woke up this morning asking myself a question.

Why am I here? What have I accomplished? To be the King of a hill standing alone against all comers? My answer is not surprising. That’s not my personality. I know I’m here for a better reason than being in the fight all by myself.

That being said, what is my life a representative microcosm of?

I have another vague memory of some favorite reading at the library of my younger years in Channelview, Texas. 10, maybe 11 years old. There was a section that contained Historical Fiction novels of famous characters of our past. The ones that caught my attention the most were those that sailed far away on a path of discovery and the ones who left settled lands into the lonely wilderness.

It’s that last category that gets my attention this morning.

We called them frontiersman. Mountain men. They took solo trips away from the settlement into those areas of the unknown. They packed their supplies, and silently slipped out of town, headed for the unknown. Many did not survive. A few became famous.

Each story told of them coming back to settled lands, but yearning for the blue mountains, rolling prairie grounds, and places where none have been before. These “pathfinders” were, and are still, my heroes. Carving trails, leaving clues, but always headed away from the crowds.

Daniel Boone. Kit Carson. Jim Bridger. It’s almost like they had a different view of their purpose in life.

Why Am I Here?

We often analyze our life and ask the common question. Why am I here? What am I doing? Where is my heart? Some will chunk it all and disappear without a trace. If they could. Most of us get lost in the moment of wishing for a reason to hang our hat on.

There’s a group of people who believe we are nothing but the figment of someone’s game board. Chess and Checker pieces moved around, capturing, and being captured. Knocked over. Winner. Loser. Someone else decides everything. We are simply their pawn. In other words, a programmer has created a simulated world and we are all living according to his parameters. [Source]

Whimsical. Illogical. Perhaps. But when you see no purpose in your life but to dream about possibilities, then these are the kind of answers you arrive at.

I enjoy a good science fiction story, but I also know my reality. Though my mind digs at the unknown, I do enjoy knowing my limits and pursuing my dreams within certain boundaries. Along the way, I want to “make a difference and be a difference“.

Maybe that’s a key to my question. How can I make/be a difference?

Difference Maker

I realize everyone has the power to make/be a difference in their immediate world. From little things to big impact scenarios, we add to our world with the intent of solving a problem or impacting a life.

Can a microcosm change the larger picture? Sure. Will it? Time will tell.

King David was a difference-maker for his flock, his family, and the burgeoning nation of Israel as it existed under King Saul. Lion. Bear. Goliath. Defeated. But he struggled with his humanity, just as you and I do today. Temptations. Fear. Fleeing his countrymen as well as his enemies, making so many wrong choices along the way!

However, he was a grand example of making a difference because he had a heart that beat for God.

“…I have found David the son of Jesse,
a man after mine own heart,
which shall fulfil all my will. ”
~Acts 13:22

Maybe, and perhaps this is the main point to learn from all that’s happened during the past few years. You and I can be a difference-maker when we put God first. My microcosm can impact the whole. I can be a frontiersman, carving new trails into the wilderness, showing others the way.

How about you? Even your community or church? Are you making a difference? What does your heartbeat say about your microcosm?

I’m still looking for answers.