Why Comfort is Overrated

As a person who was born white and exposed to Christianity from a young age, I realize that I was raised among fellow Christians and exposed to Christianity regularly. Many of us share the experience of being white Christians, especially as Minnesota boasts little racial and religious diversity. Eighty-three percent of the population of Minnesota is white and 74 percent of Minnesotans identify as Christian. For me, beginning in high school, this seemed like the norm, and I was comfortable because of the privilege and normalcy I experienced at school, with my family, and in most facets of my life. But this comfort can be limiting. 

I was comfortable because of the privilege and normalcy I experienced at school, with my family, and in most facets of my life. But this comfort can be limiting. 

In 2012, I spent six months living abroad and taking classes in Yaoundé, Cameroon. I spent these months living with a host family, cooking their food, learning their language, and meeting my Cameroonian family. Merci beaucoup á ma famille camerounaise pour tout qu'ils m'ont appris. Vous me manquez. I traveled around the country and saw things I never thought I would. I even held a chimpanzee, which I didn’t realize was a dream of mine until I was given the opportunity to do so. Spending days immersed in the diversity of religions and beliefs that the world had to offer had a profound effect on me. I grew as a person because of this exposure and my desire to understand a culture and a people that was previously foreign to me. Even today, I seek to recapture those experiences in my personal travels, in what I read, and how I experience the world. And, after continuing to travel in college and in the post-graduate years of my life, my determination to learn more about the world around me, and those members of other cultures that surrounded me, continued to grow. Now, as I continue to grow personally and professionally, I am so fortunate to work at an organization that seeks to promote the diversity that has greatly informed who I am today.

Spending days immersed in the diversity of religions and beliefs that the world had to offer had a profound effect on me. I grew as a person because of this exposure and my desire to understand a culture and a people that was previously foreign to me.

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