A person who viewed himself as insignificant would not spend time away from his family and go to work in a developing country. Significance is a major motivator of this activity but does that make one who engages important?
A large humanitarian organization visited recently. Included in the delegation were two representatives from the United States House and the president of the organization. The stated goal was to encourage the development of global health champions within Congress. I was given a heads up that they would sit down with me for an hour or two to talk with me and other physicians on site. My sense of importance swelled. The next day I was told that the delegation would not have time to meet with me.
My elevated self-importance was transformed to lowly insignificance.
Paschal or Chesterton or both observed the dialectic of human existence that man was supremely important yet wholly insignificant. It seems that we in the developed world have a healthy sense of importance that actually magnifies when we leave our comfortable environment to spend some time in a developing country. Just how insignificant do the people here feel? Is it a factor in the apparent facile acceptance of death? No human can live unaware completely of their importance nor of their insignificance. We important people of the West however could use some reminders of our insignificance. Likewise the people of the Rest could use reminders of their importance. I believe the humanitarian organization got it mostly right and I am grateful for the reminder.
