Christmas Adventure

What better way to start a Christmas adventure than being in the world’s largest city before daylight…lost. And what do you do in said condition? First, pray. Second, call a missionary you’ve never met to get him out of bed and say, “Help.” Third, stop a taxi, hand him a cell phone, and let missionary tell him your predicament. Fourth, drive like a mad man to follow him to the on ramp. We did see the hand of God as three taxis passed us up to get the one who was a super nice guy.

Our family set a personal best in travel hours for one day – sixteen. Never again! I hope.

Saturday was Daniel’s birthday and as part of the celebration the boys from the family went to see the Houston Rockets play the Los Angeles Clippers. Houston features the NBA’s tallest player in 7’5” Yao Ming from China. Watching an NBA game is much more that a ballgame, it was a night of entertainment. It could only have been better if his favorite team the Phoenix Suns had been in town. None-the-less it was a birthday evening to remember.

In a cold 47 degree drizzle on Christmas Eve our children and their cousins had a wild and crazy time alternating between hot tub and polar bear dip. What kind of parents do they have anyway?

Maria got her wish during this adventure by having her ears pierced.

During this season our houses are filled with Christmas trees, decorative lights and garland. The house of the Lord is adorned as well. It’s beautiful and breathtaking, “…holiness adorns your house for endless days, O Lord.” As we take down the Christmas trimmings over the next few days and pack them up for another year, the adornment of the Lord continues in all its brilliance.

Humor Me

Humor me to make one more journal entry concerning the Day of the Virgin of Guadelupe.

We have now experienced our first “celebration” and it has left us…tired. All through the night we were kept awake as explosions rang out. It’s the churches way of grabbing everyone’s attention and focusing it on the Virgin. In the afternoon we visited a church and found a carnival atmosphere with the faithful praying, the destitute begging and the vendors selling everything from balloons to baseball caps to food. I ate my first fried grasshopper! It was tasty, a bit crunchy and compares to the taste of anchovies. What a fond memory.

Anyway, most here fully embrace this day and all that it entails. While a few would say Juan Diego and the Virgin of Guadelupe is a carefully crafted story to bring unity between the Roman Catholic Church and the conquered people of Mexico, they feel it was no accident that Mary appeared as a Mexican girl and that Juan Diego was a native Mexican. There is no doubt that this story has been used to forge a unity of sorts.

A sign where the church was built reads, “The land upon which you walk is sacred and also where Mary walked when on this hill she appeared to Juan Diego. Continue walking with attention and a joyful heart until you find the fountain that symbolizes ‘The Offering’ of Mexico to her virgin…two perpetual waterfalls sprout, symbols of the valiant roots of the Aztecs and of the missionary Spain that join at the feet of Mary, mother and forger of the fatherland of Mexico.”

In a related note you may be interested to know the Aztecs had state gods as well as many household gods. One of the principle deities was the mother goddess Tonantzin (“Our Lady”) who was identified with the moon. (Notice that Guadelupe is standing on a crescent moon.) The church is built on the exact spot where the pyramid to Tonantzin once stood. Some believe Guadelupe and Tonantzin are one and the same. You won’t get an argument from me on that one.

While being surrounded by all this, it is our joy that the celebration of the birth of our Savior is at hand. We are encouraged and refreshed by the words of John, “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”

Never Under Estimate

Never under estimate the power of a tradition that is almost 500 years old. On December 12th millions of men, women and children will honor and seek the favor of the Virgin of Guadelupe (Mary). They will make pilgrimages, have fiestas, seek miracles, parade by the priest for blessing, attend street festivals, induce self-inflicted pain, and give her worship. Why? Because on this date in 1531 soon after the Spanish conquest of Mexico she is said to have appeared in Mexico. While some of the specific details of this apparition (supernatural vision either bodily or visible) may vary here is a summary of the story that has captured the hearts and imaginations of the Mexican people.

In 1531 a poor Aztec peasant named Juan Diego was crossing the hill of Tepeyac when he heard a woman calling to him. Upon reaching her he discovered a young Mexican girl who appeared to be about fourteen years old and who shone with golden beams from her head to her feet. Juan was dazzled by the radiance before him and all around him. The girl said, “I am the ever-virgin Mary, Mother of the true God who gives life and maintains it in existence…I desire a Teocali (temple or church) at this place where I will show my compassion to your people and to all people who sincerely ask my help in their work and in their sorrows. Here, I will see their tears; I will console them and they will be at ease. So run to Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) and tell the Lord Bishop all that you have seen and heard.”*

Juan Diego went and presented himself to Don Fray Juan de Zumarraga, a Franciscan who was kind but did not believe the “Queen of Heaven” had really appeared to him and expressed a desire for a church to be built in such an uninhabited place. Upon returning home that evening Juan Diego again encountered the Virgin who instructed him to return the following morning and repeat the message. This he did, and while the Bishop was more thoughtful he suggested that it would be nice if he had a sign to confirm the message.

The next day when Juan Diego again encountered Mary he explained the need for a sign. She told him to go to the top of the hill and cut the flowers growing there. Juan Diego went but all the while knowing there could be nothing growing on this frozen hill. To his surprise he found exotic roses in bloom. Returning to the Virgin she carefully arranged them in his tilma (apron), tied the corners behind his neck, and sent him on his way.

When Juan Diego arrived at the Bishop’s he again told of his experiences and the need to build a church on the hill of Tepeyac. With that he untied his tilma from behind his neck to present the flowers as the sign that was requested. The Bishop and the others there were immediately kneeling before Juan Diego because an even more wonderful sign had been given. There on his tilma was an imprinted image of Mary as she had appeared to Juan Diego only a few days earlier. The tilma was gently removed and displayed where it could be observed in prayerful wonder.

Needless to say the church was constructed on the sight by order of the Bishop. Today the miraculous tilma of Juan Diego hangs in the Basilica (a title assigned to honor more important churches) at Mexico City, which is considered by many Catholics to be the holiest place in the Americas. Millions visit there annually and on December 12th virtually all of Mexico honor the Virgin of Guadelupe.

Never under estimate…



*A Woman Clothed with the Sun: John J. Delaney/Ethel Cook Eliot

The Book For Me

What if…you had no Bible. Take a moment and imagine the desert of your soul without the streams of living water. How would your life be different? At what lengths would you go to obtain your own copy or to simply hear it read? We have recently come to once again appreciate the treasure we have in our hands while reading God’s Smuggler. It’s the story of Andrew van der Bijl. “Brother Andrew” as he is commonly known took Bibles to persecuted Christians behind the Iron Curtain. Here are a couple of powerful excerpts from the book:

“I lifted the top and took out a Bible. I put it in the trembling hands of Petroff, and another into the hands of his wife…Petroff closed his eyes. His mouth was working hard to control the emotion he was feeling. But two tears rolled slowly out from between his closed lids and fell on the volume in his hands.”

He goes on to tell of how he and Petroff bring a Bible to a secret meeting. “Petroff…jumped up and, with a flourish, unwrapped the package he had brought with him and held up …a Bible! There were exclamations that threatened to be too loud before those assembled caught themselves and put hands to mouths. Then there were great bear hugs from the men, and warm foreheads-on-shoulders from the women, before they passed the Book from one hand to another, tenderly opening it and closing it again.”

Some random thoughts:

* Which is worse - not having a Bible and treasuring it or being over run with Bibles and feeling ho hum about it?
* Maybe, just maybe there is a link between our being in Mexico and getting the Scripture into the hands of those who have the religion of Christ but not the truth of Christ.
* Would God have a free hand in a meeting that was solely for Scripture reading and prayer?
* “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 12:4