Toda vida es sagrada

No puedo creer que I have already completed 4 weeks at work!! Last week I was sitting around with the bank team discussing what we want to accomplish this next year. We passed the entire morning this way, and then at noon after we’d finished, we went our separate ways for lunch. As I walked to Sobeyda’s house (a woman who is paid to cook lunch for Heather and I each day), I suddenly felt a wave of joy. I really love my job. We had just spent the entire morning discussing goals, and we hadn’t mentioned money a single time. Yes, dealing with money is a large part of my job, but my coworkers were just as (if not more) concerned with the mental and spiritual growth of each woman at the bank. They don’t even really like calling it a bank.

 We discussed all the different ways we could possibly go about helping the women improve their personal self-esteem, gain conscientization of their circumstances, and build solidarity as a team. This included everything from simple activities in which each woman would be able to share her personal voice and experiences to setting up literacy classes for those women that cannot read and write. This program is such a lovely balance between caring for the physical, concrete economic issues of the women, while also caring about each person’s individual growth as a human being.

Unfortunately I still feel that my lack of Spanish is hindering my ability to learn about the lives of the women, as well as my desire to share with them. This has probably been the most frustrating part of my experience here so far. I try so hard to counteract this lack of words with smiles, hugs, and the learning of names, but it really isn’t enough for me. How can these women know that I care about them if I can’t understand what they are confiding in me? It is so frustrating and very defeating. But as the book I just read discusses, there are so many things that we can learn from pain; we shouldn’t rush over or avoid it. In many ways, embracing it can be sacred. The books states,

“When we avoid darkness, we avoid tension, spiritual creativity, and finally transformation. We avoid God, who works in darkness – where we are not in control! Maybe that is the secret: relinquishing control” (page 47 of Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer by Richard Rohr).

Maybe this quote will sounds odd out of context, but oh well. I guess you’ll all have to go read the book when you’re done with Tattoos on the Heart. : ) I would agree that realizing I am not in control here has been very humbling. Realizing that I need to learn patience with myself has also been very necessary, especially in the last 4 weeks. It is okay if my Spanish isn’t perfect. It is okay if I can’t always understand what is happening. And honestly, if I never get it…it’s still okay. It does not lessen my value as a human being. I am still just as worthy of love and care as I was before when I was in the U.S. speaking grammatically correct English.

Understanding this last point has also helped me lately to realize this same thing in other people. Despite their abilities (or lack of them), other people are equally worthy as human beings. This woman may be 25, illiterate, and married to a 65 year old, but that does not make her less worthy of love. That man may be drunk and stumbling past me on my way to work at 7:45 in the morning, but that does not make me better than him. If we would just stop comparing and judging everyone, maybe we would finally realize the intrinsic value that each person has in this world. Toda vida es sagrada.

Rohr writes, “Either we see the divine image in all created things, or we don’t see it at all…Everything becomes enchanting with true sight. One God, one world, one truth, one suffering, and one love. All we can do is participate” (58-59).

This is really long again. Ha. I hope you are all doing well!! 

Here are a couple pictures, but I´m going to put the rest on facebook.