Let me just share something with you. Whatever you may think about Catholicism or Catholic people, when they are the majority in a country you get all of their holidays, even when you don't celebrate them. What could be better? I mean, I don't really get saints and such (it has been explained to me, but I guess I am, at heart, really a Mennonite) but a day off for them is not bad at all. The reason I love them now is because I get all of Holy Week off as a holiday. My brother is coming tomorrow and we're going on vacation. That means I get a lot of vacation in a row. I could really use it. I will tell you what we do once we plan that...it might involve me leaving my brother to hang out with some spanish-speaking-only friends (but don't tell him that...) (it will only be for like half a day. they can go swimming or something)

I heard from my mom the other day that she just read the post I put up here about a month ago last week. This may suggest my blog isn't being checked on a regular basis. Ni modo. I should post something anyway. A number of things have been happening in my life. I just read on a fellow SALTers website that he is going to start a three year term in Colombia. In Colombia there is a really cool MCC post coordinating a school for peace...maybe someday I will go there too. But in the spirit of posting something worth reading, I will post something I sent into a sermon contest from geez magazine. Who knows, maybe I´ll win the money they offer! It is called, what would you say if the pastor left and left you in charge...
So, the pastor is out of town and someone thought to ask me to preach. That could be a big mistake, or it could be the greatest thing that ever happened to the church. I am a fairly inexperienced preacher. It's not as if I have never spoken in a pulpit, and I certainly have spoken from the lectern, but today is different. It is my opportunity to be a prophetic voice. My opportunity to tell you what the world is really about. I can easily talk about the problems in our world and make you more aware and feel more guilty. There is violence breaking out after elections in Kenya and there is an election campaign going on where enough money is probably spent to give the entire world clean drinking water, education and healthcare. This is not what the world is about. So if not that, what? And even if I knew, how could I possibly tell you in a way that would resonate? In our fast-paced, too-cool or too-busy for religion world, what do people need to hear? Simply put, I have no idea.
But someone needs to try. After reflecting about this sermon, I have decided that love is paramount. Not only is it the most important message of the Bible, it is the only thing that can save humanity from the mess it has made of Creation. Don't worry. I won't bring Oprah to church. The kind of love I am talking about is something far more difficult and more amazing that being nice and feeling good. I am talking about God's love for each and every human being, and God's call for us to love one another.
Not too long ago, I was at church for a Valentine's Day service. The woman who preached read from the book of Ruth, and the passage that is so often (mis)quoted at weddings. She reminded us that Naomi had two daughters-in-law. One is quite famous, and even has a book named after her. The other, Orpah, is basically forgotten. She, after Naomi begs her, goes back to her home, Moab, and her gods. The other, Ruth, "clings" to Naomi and goes with her to Judah. In that situation, I am sure that I would have done exactly what Orpah did. But maybe, just perhaps, God does call us to a new land, away from our home and our gods. This is far away from our beloved gods of shopping, expensive coffees, Mennonite connections and air-conditioned houses. While I hesitate to put Judah on a pedestal and say that there everyone loved each other and lived happily every after, maybe God is calling us to a land where we love each other, and where every day our hearts are broken by the absence of love.