We must not lose the ability to be Shaken

Tuesday 21, 2014

    This evening I was able to participate in a memorial service for the 43 students who disappeared in the State of Guerrero,  Mexico. A group of students who were protesting against the local government and the corruption suddenly disappeared. It has outraged Mexico. Mexico has struggled with the drug cartels and government corruption and thousands have died because of it. But this time, young adults, 18-25 were abducted by both the gov. and drug cartels. 43 youth, gone. The population is not foolish, there is little or no hope for their survival, but the reason for their disappearance and the justice for this despicable crime is demanded. Protestors had lit the mayors office and government building on fire.

   The ceremony was not a form of aggressive protest, but in a sense a protest of awakening. Pictures of the missing students were put on the ground with candles lit around them. There was a mic and speaker for the students to share their thoughts on the issue and the state Mexico is in in general. There were sentiments of grief, anger, hopelessness.....

but, there were also words of hope, brother/sisterhood, awakening, and somewhere deep down, at the center of those words, a peace. Not a peace that everything will be ok necessarily, but a peace you find in your grief and pain, the peace you find when you are fully present and allow everything in.

I found myself at the mic sharing my own feelings.

   A girl reminded us that The chaos in Mexico and in the world is becoming normal. Violence is just apart of life. We are becoming numb to the things that should shock, shake, and amaze us.

"We must not fall into the dangerous state of not being able to be astounded by the atrocities of our day. We cannot change if we cannot care"

    There was a breeze that kept blowing out the candles. I remember saying a prayer, asking God to hold the wind, just for the ceremony. During the sharing of testimonies I and a few others would frantically go around relighting the candles. One girl remarked,

"There will always be people willing to help, to change things. Like these candles, you might think 'the wind is going to keep blowing, why do you keep trying to keep the candles lit?'  but there will always be those willing to keep lighting the candles despite the wind, they will just keep on lighting them."

I then realized, God did keep the candles lit, He used us to keep them lit despite the wind.

    Many times when you drop on your knees in desperation for and answer to a prayer, when you beg and throw your prayer to the sky with all your might expecting and answer to come back with the equal amount of force, it descends upon you, like rain, not strong, but enveloping. 

Photos

Sept 16th, las fiestas patrias.
"Joy of being a kid"
The ward party was great with food and dancing but probably the most enjoyable part was watching these girls eating their treats. I love taking pictures of people more than anything, but I like to take the picture when they don't know, capturing a real moment in time. Whenever it comes to kids though I always get worried, no one wants to be seen as a creeper of course. I got this picture very carefully.
Oh the joys of being a kid, under the table and enjoying your favorite treats.

"La Reina de México" 

our Mother Guadalupe. You will find her hanging on walls in homes, restaurants, businesses, standing high in churches, and even in parking lots you will see her, watching over her people with the blessings of heaven. She is seen as a mother of everyone, and so, she is the great caretaker of her children here in Mexico.

"Tricycle"

Personal businesses like collecting cardboard at night are very common. Not enough to live off of, but is produces extra money on the side. This man is a mechanic by day and by night he does his rounds around the neighborhood collecting what he can to get some pocket change for extra food and needs of his family of four.

"Lost moments in little messages" 

These little notes or thoughts you fight written on walls and benches always fascinate me. I long to know who wrote it, and to whom. So much emotion and memory lost, or better, preserved in a note on a fence. This says, "I miss you."

"Moment alone" 

The blessing of being ever connected to each other has its downs. Now that we are always connected, I wonder if we ever have time for ourselves away from people, technology, etc. Just us, our minds, and the universe.

"Nafta"

The panal of many highly experienced and knowledgeable people from various corporations of great influence gathered today to speak about the issues between Mexico, U.S.A., and Canada. They discussed the issues of immigration, public health, human rights, and protecting the environment. The meeting is to prepare talks on the creation of another NAFTA agreement but it will include various countries from East Asia. This will most likely raise the competition between the Americas and China and other Asian countries. I walked in expecting a college seminar, I quickly realized how little I knew about the international relations between my own country and our neighbors. At first I thought it was the language barrier, but then I thought to myself, "I understand the words coming out of their mouth, but I don't know what they are talking about. If this was in English I'd but struggling just the same."

"I do"

Marriage, it is an occurrence that in every culture around the world, is a beautiful thing. Walking through the city we came upon this matrimony. The doors were wide open so I decided we might as well attend a bit. It is always great to see people in love.

"the value of learning"

Perhaps one of the most inspiring moments of the week, as we were walking looking at the different stands of souvenirs and trinkets I notice a young girl hunched over. As I peek over the stand to see what was was occupying her I notice she has an English book open and she is doing her homework. She is so focused she doesn't event notice me, so I decided to go ahead and take the picture. Education is so important, so precious, it is inspiring to see when youth value their education to the point that circumstance can't hold them back.

Street performers work in the down town all day on the weekends to take advantage of the massive amount of people who congregate on the weekend. This man is a living statue!