Perspectives of Life (and Death)

God has given us some wonderful opportunities to be LIGHT and SALT here in our little corner of Mexico. Bernard and I should count how many times a week we look at each other, give a chuckle and say, "What is God doing?" One of our LST participants, Javier, pops by our house quite often. He is an "ideas" man. One of his recent ideas was to have us go to his high school and spend 40 minutes with an English class. We had a great time interacting with the 35 students with varied ranges in their English abilities. Logan, of course, was the main attraction, especially among the girls!! We chatted briefly with the teacher, then we were on our way. Later that day Bernard and Logan were on their daily bike ride when they turned down a random street. Who did they see arriving at her house? You guessed it, the English teacher from that morning's experience! What are the chances that they would pick a random street and a random hour and "bump" into a new acquaintance?? Indeed, God, what are you doing?

A highlight for us continues to be our reading sessions with the LST participants. I meet with Karina each Tuesday. She is a lovely 20 year old who finds such excitement in learning about Jesus. Every time she leaves, she expresses how much she enjoys our sessions. It is SOOO fun getting to lead an hour's worth of conversation centered around Jesus!!! Elia and David are also a joy for the two of us. Bernard continues his studies in English. Elia and I are studying the seed-line of Jesus in Spanish. Bernard also continues lessons with Gustavo and Javier. All of these LST participants, except for Karina, join us for our Sunday Celebrations each week. I look forward to the day Karina joins us, too.

One of the themes in which we try to present to those with whom we are studying is the idea of "perspective determines response". The way we perceive, envision, or "know" God determines how we will respond to Him. I believe that God has been further teaching me concerning this theme of perspectives. Living in a different culture, we are challenged to be mindful of how our actions may be perceived by those around us. Even closer to home, we constantly have to check the "reality" of how we are perceiving others in a culture that is not our own. It's easy to get upset when a car slowly merges into your lane, butting you out, until you come to your senses and remember that here in Mexico, there are no lanes; wherever you are is your lane, and wherever someone else is, is also your lane. See? It's easy! No need to waste energy in getting frustrated!
Sometimes we have ethnocentric perspectives. That's to say, we begin to think that our "Canadian or American" way is far superior. But then we watch the masterful skills that are put into erecting a two-storey concrete house. It truly is a work of art. How did they EVER come up with those creative ways of building? Or we encounter the ingenuity of solving the problem of how to fit three truck-loads of aluminum cans into one truck. The problem is quickly solved by dumping all the cans in the street and using the truck to repeatedly run over the cans-forward/reverse, forward/reverse. In short order the cans are reduced to a fourth of what they were! The driver even had plenty of room to scrounge up a few more cans!

God again reminded me this week of how my wrong perspectives lead to unjust reactions. Our dear brother, Eliseo, for whom several of you sent funds to help with his prostate operation, lost his battle with Cancer on Tuesday. His operation was successful, to the point that he rallied enough to be baptized back in the summer. Some time later, however, other complications set in, and he withered to skin and bones. We were honoured to be present for the celebration of his life. The crowd was small, but it was a beautiful experience of sharing the qualities of this fine husband, father, and grandfather. Afterward we convoyed to the graveyard where the family said last good-byes. While Ivan was saying a few words, we were constantly interrupted by the background noise of the shoveling and mixing of cement from a cemetery worker. The loud and constant sound was so intrusive that many of us kept looking back in hopes that the worker would cease his work out of respect for Eliseo and his family. But no, the shoveling continued. Finally, upon Ivan's concluding words the irritating noise also came to an end. My thought was, "Yeah, wouldn't you know the worker would stop just about the time Ivan concluded his thoughts." It was then that the worker parted through the crowd carrying a heavy pail of wet concrete. He placed four concrete slabs over Eliseo's grave, then pail, by pail carried wet concrete to pour over the grave. I was humbled. The worker's face poured with sweat as he laboured tirelessly to give honour and a last dignity to Eliseo and his family. And what honour did I give him? I barely listened to Ivan's words out of my annoyance over the mixing of the concrete-the very concrete that would seal Eliseo's final resting place. Sigh...

With the holidays approaching, I've been a bit on the melancholy side. I've missed my dear sweet mother, my sister and her family, and the only remaining uncle, Dorsey and Betty, in Alabama as the Arnolds gathered for the yearly family reunion-Thanksgiving always reminds me of my family and my growing-up years. The upcoming holidays without Kresten and Ashley seem less than exciting. I would much rather be putting up the Christmas tree knowing that all five of us would be opening presents together on Christmas morning. However, my perception of these holidays determines my response. I know there will be other holidays when we will share in the festivities together--just not this year. On that thought, I'll sign off until the next blog. My little boy is anxiously waiting to dust off the stored Christmas tree. We have a house to decorate; the holidays are coming!