Day XXX in Xela: This is my big transition day and it is hard to describe the realities that have occurred today. I should have known that the three days of “sueños de los muertos” was a preparation for something coming. My day started early because Laurel, Donna and I needed to leave a little early because the church was having a special Eucharist for the Inter-American School (IAS) in Xela followed by a breakfast. Laurel had divided the liturgical duties between me, himself, and Nate Bacon, a Roman Catholic Deacon related to the IAS. Before and after the service I really made a quick connection with Nate. I quickly found out that he has a deep connection with Fr. Greg Boyle, one of my personal heroes, who works with the gangs in LA and is the founder of “Homeboy Industries”. Some of you who attend St, Margrets in Annapolis may remember my Now - Here - This sermon. Fr. Boyle was the inspiration. In passing, Nate mentions that he lives near the school I will be attending and suggests we get together for a meal to talk more. After the breakfast with the people from the school, Nate gave me his card, asked that I follow-up. I got in Jose Manuel’s car with Laurel and Donna, who were going to drop me off at my new school, Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco de Español (PLQE), on the way home. When I arrived at PLQE, I quickly figured out that I had misread the information; the doors to the school opened up a t 2:PM not 12:PM. Fortunately, Laurel pointed to a truck a few hundred feet up the road and reminded me that Nate’s house was right there, right next to the school. I told them it was no big deal to hang for the two hours. They dropped me off and I knocked at Nate’s door to see if they would be willing to watch my bags, so I could walk around the neighborhood until the school opened. They in fact were home, and were willing to watch my bags. They also invited me to go to the Mass at the cathedral with them. It was a very nice service and a nice meeting with his house-guest Ruth Edwards, from Glaskow, and the rest of his family. They invited me to join them also for lunch. The conversation over lunch grew even deeper and it became clear that Nate, his wife Jennifer, and I all share a similar view of the world and of the relationships of the universe. Nate shared his experiences in LA, working with Fr. Greg Boyle and innerChange, his ministry community, which has a similar theoretical basis as Samaritan Community. As we went back to the house to get my things, Nate told me that I should mention his family name at the school because they have a relationship with the PLQE school. Perhaps I could get my family assignment with them. I mentioned them and was actually assigned to them. I started to feel like this was one of those moments that were meant to be; it felt like something was happening. As I settled in to Nate and Jennifer’s home, for the evening, I was able to have more conversation with the people in the house. Shahrzad Makaremi, from Oakland, CA with a Persian heritage; Noretys, an innerChange person from Venezuela; Ruth Webster from Glaskow and also and innerChange person; and then more of Nate, Nate, Jr. and Jennifer. Great people and great conversation. Ruth needed to go the the parque central, so I walked with Ruth so she could use the ATM at the bank. I then walked her to Jennifer’s parent’s home a few blocks further; I was sort of doing my seguri-Dad thing. Ruth and I had a great conversation as she told me of her work in Glaskow. It is amazing how much needs to be done in the world and also how much people actually do. I came back to the house and spent a while conjugating words and writing sentences. I decided to go for a walk and asked Shahrzad if she wanted to walk with me. She did and we had a nice conversation and even had time to share time of beers at the Pasaje Enrique. On the walk back, Shahrzad asked me more about my family and I talked about Nan holding down the homestead in Annapolis, Brennan in Troy New York installing solar panels, and Emily in Bangkok with the Rotary Peace Fellowship. Shahrzad stopped in her tracks, literally and metaphorically, in disbelief. It turns out that of the 25 people in the WORLD doing Rotary Peace Fellowship in Bangkok, Shahrzad’s boss is there too, along with Emily. When we got back to the house, I texted Emily, and verified names; she was in fact sitting next to Shahrzad’s boss. About ten minutes later, the four of us had a Skype session Guatemala to Bangkok, all of us in utter amazement that these connections, from across the country and around the world could and would happen. To me this is one of those tiny miracles, and I can see the hand of God doing something here. I don’t know what God is doing here, but God is definitely doing something. I can feel a liminal space opening with all of this connection and innerRelation. The liminal space is thinning and I can tell this is a profound moment coming into the foreground. I am quieting my mind, and opening my heart to possibility. I can feel my body nearly shuddering with anticipation and expectation. My prayers over the past several months have been for direction and revelation. I think I am about to have my prayers decisively answered. While all of this can be quite disquieting and even frightening, this is where I find I need my faith – faith and assurance that God is doing infinitely more than I can ask or imagine. I feel the need and desire to add Thomas Merton’s “Seekers’ Prayer” as a closing. I would be very appreciative if you could read this prayer with me, or any other seeker, in mind: MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always, though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. AMEN.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 04:16:08 +0000