The View From In Here

Recently my eldest son has become fascinated with his Children's Atlas. When not quizzing his siblings on the language spoken in Tunisia or the currency in Peru, he delights in considering his own location in the Middle East.

Some things have surprised him.

"Mom!? How come Israel is smaller than Jordan?! How can it be smaller than Egypt?! What do you mean Israel is smaller than Syria?! How can that be?!"

So like a careful mommy, I explained as best I could about how territory gets carved up into countries, and how borders can change because of wars.

Apparently that was not his problem.

"But mommy!" he insisted, "Israel is so little on the map!

But when you're here, it's so big."

Wow.

How many times has our imagination been limited by the lines someone told us exist? What doe