So it's not like we don't know this already...somewhere, deep in the pit of our stomach where we don't like to look and sometimes pretend doesn't exist. The problem is, we do know this already. When I saw this map it was just a different way of telling me that I live in a place that CANNOT FATHOM what real poverty is. I fret about my $1,000 /mth mortgage payment. I praise myself for living "within my means." What a joke. This wealth map shows which territories have the greatest wealth when Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is compared using currency exchange rates. This indicates international purchasing power - what someone’s money would be worth if they wanted to spend it in another territory. For some their money will gain value when they move - others’ money will lose value. This facilitates the movement of some people, while severely limiting that of others. In other words, we can't even comprehend what our money means to us. Talk about a demonic force. Notice how bloated the US looks? Territory size shows the proportion of worldwide wealth. Just for fun, here's a map showing population, using the same size scale.

Mama USA lost a little weight, didn't she? The fascinating site I got this info from is Worldmapper. Play around on it. It will probably cause you to either 1. Get mad 2. Get sad 3. Feel overwhelmed. 4. Have peace? "But it seems so overwhelming?," you might say to yourself. And you'd be right...it is overwhelming. The peace part comes in here...I can't say that I totally get it, but there is a certain realization in my core that God provides some special stuff for people living in the real skinny part of the map that the bloated part just doesn't seem to get. Jesus says "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Thanks Jesus. But sometimes it doesn't feel like it. Until I remember my friends in SA, and the undescribable joy they seemed to radiate. Could it be? On a dollar a day? Their purchasing power would be exactly...zero. But true joy? My guess is if they worldmapped that, we'd barely be a sliver, and my friends in SA would be quite wide.