"I know it is hard to forgive after so many attacks... let there not be resentment in your hearts."
-Oscar Romero
I am overwhelmed by the kindness of the Salvadorans. They invite us into their homes, with tin roofs, mud walls, and dusty dirt filled floors. They feed us, with tortillas, with fruit, and with cookies, even chicken. They share their stories, their hungry stomachs, their daily work, and their struggle for education. They share their histories, their poverty, their martyrs, and their faith. They expose their fears and their pains, even to the point of tears. And yet through all of that pain, they hold us in their hearts. They welcome us with open arms.
We have spent the past week of orientation visiting each of the Praxis sites where the Casa students will be working throughout the semester. We have visited small rural communities, urban schools, and medical centers hearing stories and learning more about the work that we will be doing. Every Monday and Wednesday we will leave for our Praxis sites at 7:30AM and work with these communities until 5PM. This work is one of the cornerstones of our time with the Casa de la Solidaridad program and the people of El Salvador. It is this time spent with the people that will take the theories that we are learning in our classes and allow them to become experience.
At La Valencia, one of the Praxis sites, I stood as a North American, holding my Nalgene, comfortable in my Chacos, aware of my privilege. And I wondered, and I wondered, and I wondered, how do the people of this community welcome me? How do they forgive my country's role in their history? How do they forgive me through their pain that they share so openly? Am I not the tax collector in their community? I take more than I need, letting them have what is left over after my wants have been fully met. Yet they love me and they invite me into their homes. And through that love they invite me into transformation. I have so much left to learn from these people about what it means to live as Jesus lived. As they welcome us with open arms, vulnerable in their sharing, and strong in their faith, I am invited to learn what it is to forgive, and to love.
beautiful.
ReplyDeleteit's a really special gift of personalism to be able to separate the behavior of individuals from the behavior of their governments or demographics.
ReplyDeletethe grace of your Salvadoran hosts has so much to teach us about the tragedy of every civilian casualty of impersonal, indiscriminate tactical offenses such as economic sanctions and drone bombings... all of which are based on the assumption that individuals are collateral damage in a war on terror and other blurry nouns.
personalism enables reconciliation.