Dios

This week Aparecida (a Sion nun from Brazil that works at the project with me) began a discussion with the one of the groups of women, asking where they find God in their lives. After a great pause, a couple women offered, “La iglesia” (church). Not satisfied with this answer, Aparecida then asked if one can find God in other human beings. One woman immediately shook her head firmly indicating no. These answers completely took me by surprise, as my initial reactions to these questions were so profoundly different. I thought about their answers for a long time, and I came to the flimsy conclusion that maybe their lives on Earth are so painful and lacking in love that they don’t actually experience God as being among us here and now. God and heaven are perfect and amazing while humans and earth are ugly and flawed. Maybe they are just going through life waiting around for the one day that they die and are able to reach that better life in heaven with God.

BUT….then I also realized that their view of God and the world is actually not that uncommon. There are many people in the U.S. as well that seem to separate God/humans and the kingdom of heaven/the world. I remember hearing a story once about someone asking a child in the U.S. where God is found and he points to the sky. The person later asks the same question of a little boy from Africa and he points to his heart. I think this story epitomizes the way many people in our society see God as being some separate being that maybe only intervenes for special cases like a miracle. And really, how else could it be that we have such a large majority of Christians in our country and yet, so many people in the U.S. that are plagued by hunger, homelessness, joblessness, a laughable education, lack of health care, and maybe even worse, indifference.

This discussion at work coincided with my reading of the book Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle S.J., which may be another reason why I found their answers so riveting. Throughout the entire book, Boyle refers to finding God in the people and the world around him, even in the gang members of LA with whom he works. He finds God in each broken gang member, seeing his or her worth as a human being because of this. Boyle’s view of people in our society is so beautiful, although admittedly very difficult to live out. How do I wish love and goodness upon the man hissing and objectifyingly yelling “CHELA BONITA” at me as I walk through El Recreo on the way to work? How do I find God in the man that gets drunk and beats up my coworker?

I guess all I can do is keep trying.

P.S. You should all now go read Tattoos on the Heart. : )