The Count's World

As the spirit of July the Fourth descends upon the United States, I reflect upon my allegiance to a country whose ethics, morals, and even foundation clash with the way I see the world. I worship a global God. One who has homes all over the world, whom He is blessing every day. The United States, while having an incredibly captivating history, is only one nation among many in God's eyes.

When I was reading The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas last year, I found the following to be a summary for what it means to be a follower of Christ in a holistic and integrated way, without bowing before earthly thrones. The setting takes place in the regal home of Monsieur de Villefort, a sworn enemy of The Count of Monte Cristo who vies to avenge himself of the injustices suffered at this crown prosecutors hands. Yet Villefort knows nothing of the man whom he is dining with, especially the dark role in which he himself played in the Count's life. In an ominous scene, The Count skillfully explains the flaws rather as a fencer makes his thrusts in Villefort's ideology. Indeed the title of the forty-eight chapter is Ideology.

"The kingdom of kings are confined, either by mountains or rivers, or by a change in customs or by a difference in language; but my kingdom is as great as the world, because I am neither Italian, nor French, nor American, nor a Spaniard; I am a cosmopolitan. No country can claim to be my birthplace. God alone knows in what region I shall die. I adopt every custom, I speak every tongue...In this way you see, being of no country, asking for the protection of no government and acknowledging no man as my brother, I am not restrained or hampered by a single one of the scruples that tie the hands of the powerful or the obstacles that block the path of the weak."

I find in this passage the way I see Christ would live in this world today. Under no government, operating with no allegiances toward any nation, but blending in among the many considering every man as a brother, every woman as a sister. I find my mission statement for travel right here. I read this in New Zealand, away from the US bubble, and it changed me, awakened me.

It is true that I can attribute a good portion of my thirst to travel, my hunger for language, my interest in culture specifically to the figure of The Count. Simply because he is way cool. A man of mystery, of calm and controlled disposition, he is called the Noble Foreigner by many when he returns to Western Civilization. He is fluent in several languages, he is as well-read as any scholar. He can go anywhere in the world, and feel at ease, inviting experience to dine with him. As I read the book, I received the same feeling I usually reserve for a superhero. But no, this is simply a mortal man, albeit one who has become so well-traveled, so well-seasoned to the ways and customs of people, he can wield a power that truly no king can wield if he does not leave his kingdom. And that power is the allegiance, not to a government, but to a life of understanding, and in my case, a life of love.

I adamantly recommend reading The Count of Monte Cristo completely in its pure, unabridged form. Don't be scared by the page number. Once one gets into a classic such as this, there is nothing so powerful in the literary world.