It’s a Small World by Rev. Don Steele

            “It’s a small world after all!” I remember visiting Disney World, years ago with friends, and getting stuck in the Small World amusement ride there, in the final room, where all the little animated dolls are dressed in white and singing that song in various languages. After a few minutes stuck there, my friend, who was sitting in the seat in front of us, half turned to me, visibly annoyed, and said, “If they don’t get this thing moving soon, I’m going to walk out, because I can’t take this anymore!”

            “There is just one moon and one golden sun. And a smile means friendship to everyone. Though the mountains divide, and the oceans are wide, it’s a small world after all.” And there’s no denying the truth that it seems that we live closer to each other than ever. The carbon that I discharge into the environment here has a global impact everywhere. The boundaries that used to keep us safe no longer isolate us. Social media brings anxiety anywhere in the world to the cell phone in my pocket. This is the world in which we are stuck, in some ways, and while we might be tempted to try to escape, the truth is that we cannot go anywhere. 

            And instead of getting annoyed and angry, a far better choice is to celebrate our interconnectedness as one human family called to care for each other and for this wonderful world. That’s why World Communion Sunday is such a meaningful way to start the fall. It was created in 1933 at the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. It was the darkest year of the Great Depression. The Nazis were on the rise in Germany. In response, church leaders there decided to try to pull churches together to reaffirm unity in Christ around the Table. It wasn’t until the start of the Second World War and in its immediate aftermath that World Communion Sunday really became widely popular, spreading beyond Pittsburgh, beyond Presbyterians, beyond the United States to become an ecumenical, worldwide celebration of our diversity.

            “It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears. It’s world of hope and a world of fears. There’s so much that we share, that it’s time we’re aware, it’s a small world after all.” And, indeed, it is time we’re aware that, no matter where we live, we are all in this together.

Pastor Don Steele