hard to explain
Honduras day 2
1.5.06
Our first full day of being in country is coming to an end and I am tired and a little sunburned. This morning our day began slowly, one of the reasons I love this culture, and we headed to the market. I watched as Luis bartered and chatted with local venders and I acted as the team mule by making repeated trips to the truck with melons, potatoes, eggs, and a variety of food I have no idea what they were over my shoulder.
In the afternoon we loaded up the truck and made the 2 ½ hour trip to Orica, home of the church that we have worked with the past few years. I love driving here. Each trip is an adventure. There are no observable laws and even the few stoplights are treated more as a suggestion than a rule. Upon arrival in Orica I adopted my persona of Juan Gordo (or Fat Jon) and spoke like a two year old. I asked penetrating questions like. What you team is favorite? Or Do you like a grade you have? I don’t even know what I am getting at sometimes but the people there are very gracious and patient with me.
Then came my favorite part of the day. Orica is out in the middle of the country and you have to travel along a winding dirt road over a pass in the brown colored hills to get there. It was time to leave Orica and I got the back of the truck just as the last bits of daylight faded into darkness. I put in my headphones and listed to some of Joshua Tree looking out over the dark landscape and up into the clear night sky. It was amazing and for a few minutes it felt like God was all around me and smiling down on me and swelling up within me. I wish I could put it into words and tell you, tell myself what it was like. But I can’t and regardless of my experience, that is what I love about the divine.
He can be experienced, talked about, related to, studied and yet never in a way that fully gives God justice. God is so much more. More than I think I will ever understand even given eternity to try. But I look forward to giving it a go.
1.5.06
Our first full day of being in country is coming to an end and I am tired and a little sunburned. This morning our day began slowly, one of the reasons I love this culture, and we headed to the market. I watched as Luis bartered and chatted with local venders and I acted as the team mule by making repeated trips to the truck with melons, potatoes, eggs, and a variety of food I have no idea what they were over my shoulder.
In the afternoon we loaded up the truck and made the 2 ½ hour trip to Orica, home of the church that we have worked with the past few years. I love driving here. Each trip is an adventure. There are no observable laws and even the few stoplights are treated more as a suggestion than a rule. Upon arrival in Orica I adopted my persona of Juan Gordo (or Fat Jon) and spoke like a two year old. I asked penetrating questions like. What you team is favorite? Or Do you like a grade you have? I don’t even know what I am getting at sometimes but the people there are very gracious and patient with me.
Then came my favorite part of the day. Orica is out in the middle of the country and you have to travel along a winding dirt road over a pass in the brown colored hills to get there. It was time to leave Orica and I got the back of the truck just as the last bits of daylight faded into darkness. I put in my headphones and listed to some of Joshua Tree looking out over the dark landscape and up into the clear night sky. It was amazing and for a few minutes it felt like God was all around me and smiling down on me and swelling up within me. I wish I could put it into words and tell you, tell myself what it was like. But I can’t and regardless of my experience, that is what I love about the divine.
He can be experienced, talked about, related to, studied and yet never in a way that fully gives God justice. God is so much more. More than I think I will ever understand even given eternity to try. But I look forward to giving it a go.
posted by Jon at
9:25 AM
5 Comments:
Welcome back, Juan. Thank you for the glimpse into your time in Honduras. Really beautiful. You fed my imagination well: I felt like I could visualize the market and the roads and the skies.... Thanks for letting me travel vicariously through you! Looking forward to hearing more about your time in person one of these days. Paz fuera.
thanks for that jon. really felt like i was there. could you do that long-term? or do you get your fill from short-term missions?
also wondering, have you stopped using pronouns for God to avoid genderizing...uhh...God? that used to make me so mad years back, and now i feel like it makes a lot of sense...anyway, just wondering...
smart question, cory. yes, jon, i'm curious, too .... have you been reading madeline l'engle?
I don't think I did that on purpose but I was influenced by one of my favorite profs in college to avoid calling God a he or she. I have known some people that seem to take it a little far but I agree with you Cory that it does make a lot of sense.
it's also hard to explain why you haven't updated your blog in 800 years. donde estas?
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home