So I expected to find poverty in Guatemala. I’ve seen it everywhere I’ve been. What I did not expect to find in Guatemala was the realization of how impoverished people are in the United States.
My mind took me first to the Old Testament story of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. They complained about the manna that fell from heaven, and they spent all their gold to construct a cow idol. For real people, I could have thought of something better than a cow. Anyway, the point is that they completely missed the incredible fact that God was in their midst, and that he was taking care of them in a miraculous way.
The second story I thought of was the argument that the disciples were having about which one of them was the greatest, and which one of them would get to sit at the right hand of Jesus in heaven (DiVinci had his say on that, but I digress again). But my point is the same; they missed the fact that God incarnate was in their midst, and caring for them in a miraculous way.
The Guatemalan people that I have encountered are aware that God is in their midst, and they are experiencing with their eyes wide open the miraculous manner in which He cares for them.
Beauty surrounds us every moment. God holds us in his hand. We rest in the shadow under His wing. And yet, we allow our joy to be robbed from us by pettiness and a bleary eyed focus on things that do not matter.
My eyes are opened.
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