WHAT COLORS ARE YOUR DREAMS?

Go confidently in the directions of your dreams. Live a life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau

There is wonder, excitement and mystery in a young child's dreams. Can you picture it? Can you visualize the face and excitement of a 7, 8, or 10 year old little boy or girl that you know? Children have that ability to dream, to dream big, to dream in color! But then they become us, and we "grow up." We become serious, we get excited, we get jobs and mortgages and insurances and ... Soon those dreams are buried under the shadows of responsibility.

Here in Antigua, Guatemala, we recently got a glimpse into someone else's dreams. A dream that continues to impact us and challenge us to take risks, to color outside the lines, especially in relationship to people! We met a young Korean couple just five weeks into a year and a half trip around the world. Travel has been a dream of the young woman's, Jang, since early childhood. Her dream has been to experience first hand the colors and sounds and smells of places that so many years ago were only imagines in a borrowed book.

But in the lapse of time between her childish dreams and adulthood, Jang grew up. She got educated, she got married, she got a good job and the vibrant colors of her dreams began to fade to pastels and shadows of gray. Jang, however, was fortunate that her job began to become routine. After a few years it lacked creative spark and she lacked satisfaction. Jang allowed that grayness of dissatisfaction to catapult her once again into the direction of her childhood dreams. And now their journey has already begun!

Jang and Kim (her loving supportive husband who is also willing to take risks) are searching for meaning and mystery in their dream life together. They are searching for life in the present- the brilliant colorful life "in the moment." A significant part of their dreams have already been met in each other. Other parts, yet to be realized, will be met in the sounds, smells and faces they meet in each new place they experience first-hand!

Where are they now? Can you visualize them in Cuba? Peru? North Africa? India?
KEEP DREAMING JANG!
KEEP DREAMING KIM!
Y siempre, vaya con Dios!

Mayan creation myth and morality tale

There were four gods and each one was observing the earth below. Then the yellow god suggested that they make man to enjoy the earth and offer praise to the gods. The other three agreed.
So the yellow god took a lump of yellow clay and made a man from it. But his creation was weak; it dissolved in water and could not stand.
Then the red god suggested that they make a man of wood. So the red god took a branch from a tree and carved it into a human shape. When they tested it in water, it floated and stood upright with no problem. But when they tested it with fire, it burned up.
The four gods decided to try again. This time the black god suggested making man out of gold. The gold man was beautiful and shone like the sun. He survived the tests of fire and water, looking even more handsome after each test. However, the gold man was cold to the touch, he was unable to speak, feel or move. But they left him on earth anyway.
The fourth god, the colorless god, decided to make humans of his own flesh. He cut the fingers off his left hand and they jumped and fell to earth. The four gods could hardly see what the man of flesh looked like as they were so far away. They looked like busy ants.
But the men of flesh worshiped the gods. They filled the hearts of the four gods with joy.
One day the men of flesh found the man of gold. When they touched him, he was cold as a stone. When they spoke to him, he was silent. But the kindness of the men of flesh warmed the heart of the man of gold, and he came to life, offering praise to the gods for the kindness of the men of flesh.
The four gods looked down on the earth in delight. They called the man of gold "rich" and the men of flesh "poor", ordaining that the rich should look after the poor. The rich man will be judged at his death on the basis of how he cared for the poor.
From that day onward, no rich man can enter the skies unless he is brought there by a poor man.

Book of MATTHEW, chapter 6
" Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Adios, Bruce

GUATEMALA...at a glance, at least for now.

Guatemala means "land of the trees" in the ancient Mayan-Toltec language. Because 40% of the country is covered in many types of forests..chicozapote trees from which chicle is used for chewing gum, and cedars and mahogany.
Guatemala is the third largest country in Central America, a little less than the size of Louisiana, bit more than England. It has borders with Mexico, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. There are 33 volcanoes, with about 3 active. The non-active Vulcan Agua, at 12,300 ft., is always in our sights here in the city of Antigua.
Guatemala has about 14 million people, of which 60& are indigenous, nearly all Mayan, who speak Spanish as a second language. And 43% of the population are age 15 and under.
It is also the largest economy in Central America, with the average income being $2,200 U.S. dollars a year. More than half of the Guatemalans-5.5 million, live in poverty. The official minimum wage is about U.S. $240 a month in urban areas and $175 in rural ones. A typical school teacher earns about $195 a month.
Agriculture is the largest employer, with over half of the population. Main exports (the U.S. being the biggest partner, then Mexico, South Korea, China) are in this order: coffee, sugar, bananas, cardamon, vegetables, flowers, timber, rice, and rubber. Light industry/manufacturing includes prepared foods, textiles, tires, and pharmaceuticals, mostly foreign-owned.
Catholicism is the main religion, but since the 1970's evangelical Protestant groups are now about 40%.
Education in Guatemala is free, and in theory available between the ages of 7-14. But reality seems to say that only 78% reach the fifth grade. Adult literacy is about 70%, among women about 63%.

Katy and I are here in the city of Antigua....Spanish for: ancient, old-fashioned. We are here until the second week of December, going to language school and learning pages of new verbs and rules of grammar.
In between all of this, Antigua is also giving us the gift of becoming friends with so many sweet and enormously generous and hospitable people of Guatemala. We are seeing, and being...such a part of something grand and subtle in Guatemala right now. Sometimes clear, sometimes obscure, but always thankful for the insight and experience! Sort of the way God has guided us the last few years.

A THEOLOGY OF SEEING OR GAZING. TO REALLY SEE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL, SO THAT ITS
BEAUTY BECOMES A SACRAMENTAL REALITY, ONE HAS TO DO MORE THAN JUST GLANCE.

Henri Nouwen

The first three rows of maize, are planted for travelers. MAYAN PROVERB

A Warm Send Off

We had been excited, packed and ready for some time and then THE DAY came ever so quickly. The weight of your friendship and support added to our already full suitcases, making it even harder to leave.
Tuesday night jam sessions, shared meals together, playing games (like Mexican Dominos and Farkle), booktalks and coffee - all these and more are valued memories we guard in our hearts and minds.
We have been in Antigua, Gualtemala now for 2 weeks. We are 2 gringos in a foreign land; at times we are over whelmed by the choices we have made, we are continually humbled by our limited language but we are always encouraged and warmed by our remembrance of each one of you.
¡Muchisimas Gracias!