A Dream of a World Made New
By Kelsey Krehbiel
In a world made new, school is a place where students actually learn something new and worthwhile every single day. It is a place where students are graded on what they learn and accomplish rather than how many assignments they can do. Most importantly, it is a place where every student can work with their intellectual peers and move at their own pace. Every student in the world would have an equally excellent education, and the same opportunities. Education at all levels would be free for everyone; there would be no such thing as private schools. The entire world would come together so that all of the world’s children could learn the same things. And one of the things they would teach would be acceptance. Everyone would be accepted for who they are. No one would base opinions on what some one looks like, or how they dress, or their race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. Hatred would not exist, or at least not blind hatred. In a world made new, governments would work together so that we all have the same freedoms, the same rights, and the same privileges. People around the world would be treated fairly in every case brought before any court. People would seek to understand one another and to negotiate, rather than drop bombs, or deploy troops. War would be a last resort, and there fore almost non-existent.
I am not going to stand up here and tell you all that the world made new would be all sunshine and bunny rabbits, and we’d all be best friends, because quite frankly, that idea just strikes me as creepy. I don’t want to get along with everyone in the world. As a rational human being, if I woke up and everyone liked everyone else, I would think I was having the most bizarre nightmare. But in this world made new that I imagine, it would be something we are working towards. For my entire lifetime, and my parents’ lifetime, and my grandparents’ lifetime, and as far as I can tell, for the entire history of the world, we have proclaimed this goal of world peace. Every beauty pageant queen has made it clear its something we all want. But where is the evidence of work towards this goal? In the world made new, world peace isn’t a reality, but it’s a goal we are visibly striving for.
Here, at Church of the Pilgrims, we have made a beginning. We aren’t foolish enough to think that our small, little congregation can fix the world’s problems. But we’re trying anyway. World hunger is a huge issue, and we do our part by feeding the hungry in our neighborhood. The world is a community, and no one can do more then their part. But if everyone did their part, this dream of a world could be a reality. The bible says that God will create a new world with out suffering, but what are we if not the tools with which God would create it? As a sixteen year old, I often feel like there’s not a lot I feel I can do. I can’t vote; I can’t drive on my own; I can’t even enter most sweepstakes. But even now I have a voice. One voice may not seem very loud, but one voice can speak up for justice; one voice can try to explain an idea, or an ideal; and some day one voice will be heard. In the long run, who knows what my part will be? In the future, I will find the part that is mine and no one else’s. But for now, my part is a promise. And it is one I make every morning when I wake up, and one I renew every night before I sleep. It is a promise to use my voice, and to pass on the flame of hope that is this dream to everyone who will listen.
