acknowledgment...

We're a few weeks into our time here in Guatemala and things are moving along quite nicely. Students have, thus far, averted extreme/bizarre illnesses (no Scarlet Fever this time around - thank God). And despite the group being small, they are good to each other and have displayed an impressive level of interest and appreciation for our speakers.

I've been reading more than normal and going to bed early, probably part of the reason I haven't been writing here as much as I'd like to. But I have been thinking much about solitude and presence and why we're/I'm here in Central America.

On Saturday we went to a small indigenous community where we heard the story of a group of widows. Before we make the hike down to their houses Fidel always teaches us some words in Quiche and reminds us that by attempting to speak their language, by listening to their story, and by sharing a meal with them - we show them that we value who they are. This has been a recurring theme during my time here: that with your presence alone, you can show someone you value them.

I'm reading a wonderful novel in which a dying Reverend writes a long letter to his boy in hopes of telling him the things that might not ever be told otherwise. He speaks about baptism and the act of blessing something.

"There is a reality in blessing...It doesn't enhance sacredness, but acknowledges it, and there is power in that. I have felt it pass through me, so to speak. the sensation of really knowing a creature, I mean really feeling its mysterious life and your own mysterious life at the same time."

It's pretty unlikely that I'll ever baptize anyone, but my hope would be that through our presence and our solidarity with these communities, we would bless them - and acknowledge the sacredness within them. Certainly I am always blessed by them.