Ok, so I have two for today because I couldn't choose between them, and why should God be limited in any way, right? The first is in Eva, one of the women who I am helping teach read and write on Thursday afternoons with the Good Shepherd Sisters. I have no idea how old Eva is, but she is little, slightly hunched over, with long gray and white hair and covered in wrinkles. I adore her as I do really all of the women I work with. We had been working for about an hour on reading and pronunciation when she started complaining about her head hurting so we took a break. Many of the women often seem to be ill and Eva was sharing with me about her aches and pains and the high cost of medicine and little to no money. She shared that she has weak bones and often feels dizzy or will get the chills too. Although I live with two nurses and a doctor-to-be I myself do not have much medical knowledge. But when she shared that she has low calcium and the supplament pills are very expensive I suggested including more dairy in her diet because I at least know that dairy is high in calcium. She responded saying that milk prices are really high right now and so a lot of the dairy products are too expensive for her to buy. There isn't enough money to eat well, and so she gets sick (as I'm guessing her family does too), but then there still isn't enough money to pay for medicine or treatment when they get sick from not being able to eat well. I sat and listened to her explain this painful cycle that begins and ends with a lack of finances and fosters preventable health problems. This is the voice of Christ suffering in the people of today who have so many factors working against them. This is grinding poverty: when everyone has to work to survive and so no one can go to school and get an education, but there still isn't enough money (or education) to eat well and prevent illness and illness brings more medical expenses that can't be paid or are paid at the sacrifice of other basic necessities like food, clothing, or shelter. In Eva's sharing, and each week from all of the women because I believe they come to share and be listened to as much as to learn, I am awakend to what liberation theologians have called "el pueblo crucificado" and I can see and feel the crosses that have been placed on the people to carry. I think recognizing the cross is one of the first steps to helping remove it.
The second experience I had today is short and sweet. I felt the divine presence quite clearly through the beautiful singing voice of Reylinda, a postulant sister in CCVI who is visiting the community in Chimbote for a month. She taught us a song to sing for Padre Carlos' going away party and from the moment she started singing I was captivated. She has an incredibly beautiful voice that to me seemed like the earth itself was singing. It would be impossible for me to describe without you hearing it, so just know it was powerful. Gracias a Reylinda for communicating God's beauty through your beautiful voice!
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