No One is Born Cross-Cultural
It goes without saying that a missionary vocation presupposes a certain initial disposition towards a cross-cultural attitude. It is difficult for anyone who is absorbed by the affirmation of his own culture to reach a sufficient "empathy" to put him in tune with other cultures. Of course, even an initial cross-cultural disposition does not dispense anyone from an apprenticeship that will require important and painful sacrifices. We are born culturated and we become cross-cultural.
A couple difficulties to cross-culture worth mentioning ~ one is a superiority complex, which sometimes takes the form of contempt and sometimes compassion. For someone with this complex, other cultures will be more or less good according to how much they are similar to his own, or are in the process of becoming more like his. Another attitude is the opposite, an inferiority complex and it too is shown in different ways. It can take the form of self-defence when one's reaction is always on the defensive or aggressive, of feeling one is not good enough.
The healthy position is that of cultural self-esteem that is realistic and balanced. The renunciations required in cross-cultural living will be different or felt different for each person. One is never called to radically renounce one's own culture. On the contrary, it is indispensable to retain and love it as it is, with it's positive as well as negative aspects ~ with neither arrogance nor shame. The objective and open evaluation of one's culture is the best tool for evaluating others without raising them too high or throwing them down.
Living in a multi-cultural community means dealing on a daily basis with different ways of approaching realities that make up the fabric of daily life, from decision making to hospitality... from organizing a time-table, arranging the house and making dinner! All will reflect the multi-cultural character of the community. It is in this area of concrete and daily relationships that all the beauty and also the difficulties of cross-culture are found. This is where a person is stretched and grows, coming to a deeper understanding of self, of others and of reality as a whole. The possibilities are many, it is a way rich with diversity, inviting travellers to new encounters, new experiences and destinations ~ that in the end are only new starting points ~ for further encounters, challenges, experiences... it's an open road, a process of continual conversion!
Virtues need to be acquired: trust in oneself and in the other, recognition of one's limitations and the permanent acceptance of the Cross as the other face of the "hundred-fold received in brothers, sisters, houses..." (Mt. 10:30)
