Light
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2008
1
4
10
Trip End
Jan 15, 2009
Ollantaytambo,
Sacred Valley,
Peru
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
I´m in Ollaynta right now. about to get onto the bus to head back to Cusco. This town holds a lot of significance for the Incans because it was the only town that was able to defeat the spaniards during the conquest. This resistance had to do a lot with the fact that it lay on a steep mountain so it was difficult for the Spaniards to advance.
Resistance.
Last night i had a conversation with a man named Date Gomez. He has 5 kids and a wife in Cusco and works all over South America duing architectal work. With the little money he earns, his two eldest children are going to work. He´s giving the world a little bit of light by saying his kids will have a better light. He´s resisting the cycle of poverty that his family has been a part of for so long. He insisted on buying me a drink, so i finally broke down and let him buy me a coke. He told me told me, columbianos son malos, chileanos son malos, ecuadorianos son malos... it seemed he thought every country had bad people except Brazil. This pushed us onto a conversation about how when there are bad people, sometimes we must first look at their circumstances before we can truly understand their heart.
What´s worse, a poor man who steals so that he can eat, or a rich man who gives nothing from his abundance. Socialism.
Dante told me that socialism is when a man, such as himself, has 5 kids and a wife and one piece of bread. Insted of keeping it for himself, because he earned it and bought it, he divides it into 7 pieces so that everyone can eat. When I was in Machu Picchu there were no beggars, I felt safe walking at night. Everyone had enough to eat. So socialism. Is it so bad? Afterall it is the model Jesus teaches isn´t it? I believe one of the only reasons Cuba is doing as bad as it is, is because it became an enemy of the US. with the fall of Russia it had no big power allies. So it became an island, literally and economically. So there is no food for everyone. There is poverty because everyone shares in the poverty equally. Well maybe not everyone, power does corrupt absolutely. And a government that holds all the power for long durations of time will become corrupt.
Anyway, what I´m trying to get at, is resistance. Socialism or not, we all have the power to give. This is light that the world so desperately needs. This is a form of light that we must continue to bring into the world. A resistance against the darkness. Each of us has this ability, to give all we can to the world, your country, your city, the peope around you, or simply your family. I beg of you, in this new year act on the passions that are in your heart. Your dreams. Whethere you realize it or not, God put them there so that you may in some way bring light into the darkness that exists here.
¨Resist the voice that says it is better to live for yourself this year
¨why blame the dark for being dark? It is far more helpful to ask why the light isn´t as bright as it could be.¨ Rob Bell
brazos y besos
feliz ano nuevo!
michelle E
