-get accepted to the Peace Corps Master's International program
-live in Africa
-speak Spanish fluently
-oh yeah and German
-sky dive
-bungee jump in New Zealand
-finish writing a book
-finish reading a book...haha kidding
-live in India
-do everything that someone has told me I can't
-in person, watch KU win a NCAA championship
-swim with sharks
-travel to every continent
-stand on the Great Wall of China
-swim in every ocean...oh wait!
-go canyoning
-fall in love
-learn to capture the world through the lens of a camera
-witness the love of God spread throughout the world like wildfire
-learn to appreciate silence
I'm sure there is more but for now. :-)
As many of you know, this week is Holy Week and for the Catholic church--Saturday is the mother of all masses. Whew, the Catholic faith....now that's a touchy subject for some people, right? I was in third grade when my family started going to the Catholic church and sometime in the next couple of years my dad converted. At the time my brothers were in high school but I was still a young tyke so I went through RCIA classes and converted as well--I was in like fifth grade I think. God didn't waste anytime getting my family super involved in our parish--my parents became CCD (Sunday school more or less) coordinators and they, along with other families in our church, took off with new ideas of how to get people (and specifically kids) involved in their faith.
I don't know when my mom, the other ladies, and a few men started going to say rosary on Wednesday mornings but by now it has to have been at least seven years give or take. They get up early in the morning and go to the church and say the rosary every Wednesday. I'm almost positive my mom says her rosary every night and now that I am in Chile, she probably says it two or three times. I'm not going to sit here and count it all up but that's a lot of prayer for a lot of people--talk about power of prayer. I am totally under the impression that the best thing you can do for anyone in your life is pray for them. When I got to college that is definitely one of the things that made the friendships that I have so strong--we pray for each other. Granted I live the typical college girl life of laughter and yelling but there is also a lot of prayer whether it is for God to send us good boy friends or to pass the next midterm.
When I was in high school I came to a point in my life where I absolutely hated the Catholic church. Granted, I was a high school girl so I hated a lot of things, but the thought of being Catholic after I graduated was repulsive to me. To me, the Catholic church was just a set of rules and a bunch of boring traditions where people continuously put God into a box....funny how I ended up attending two Catholic universities huh?
Yesterday I tweeted about making plans for Easter break and my dad tweeted back at me telling me that the Easter Tritium better be in the plans...basically in his father-like way he is telling me to go to mass. I pretty much laughed at his tweet because of course I know he is just being a dad but by now him and my mom know that I have claimed the Catholic faith for myself and I stopped going to mass because they wanted me to a long time ago. I'm not Catholic because I am that ten year old kid watching my dad getting christened with oil, I'm not Catholic because I went to classes for years that taught me about Jesus and the Church, I'm not Catholic because I go to a Catholic school or have Catholic friends--I am Catholic because it embodies everything that I believe about Jesus and what a "church" should be.
Recently I read this blog post and it kind of all clicked for me. Now, don't get me wrong I'm not saying that Catholic churches don't have problems and that I don't disagree with the actions of people at times--but what I am saying is that the difference for me lies in love and service. Of course I could sit here and give you my opinions on different Protestant churches and why for lack of a more formal phrase "my church is better" but that's not the point and I definitely don't think it would accomplish anything. I want to see God's people in a light where the church isn't what's important but something even bigger than that--love. I think that is a part of what draws me in so tightly to the Chilean culture. Granted, yes, people here are what you'd call "super Catholics" but it absolutely doesn't matter what church you go to here most people are in the mindset of "me da lo mismos" no all churches here aren't the same but it doesn't change how the people here show you love (or not that I have seen yet). I am sure that there is church bias here but more than anything people really know how to love and show God's love through their actions. I don't know how many times in the states there is the question of "Oh hey are you Baptist?" or "Oh, so you're Catholic?" and I am sure that in some cases it happens here too--it just seems to be more out of love than anything rather than a conversation of "my church can beat up your church."
The other night at dinner we were talking about perceptions of love in the different cultures--Chile and the US. My parents and I started to talk about how everyone is open and affectionate here and in the US people are "frio" or more or less somewhat cold-hearted. It definitely takes me back to when I was little and my dad used to read my brothers and I a chapter of the bible at breakfast everyday before school. I remember one morning we got into a conversation about Jesus kissing people when he greeted them and it was like "Dad, he kisses the boys too?" That was also probably the age where my dad had to explain circumcision to me as well ;-). I see it with some families in the US--but most, including my own, are less affection by a great deal to how people are here. When you greet someone you kiss, when you leave you kiss--if I counted it up I probably get twenty kisses a day from my mom alone. Before I left the states I really wasn't that touchy of a person--if I hugged you it was probably because I knew you really well and other than my family and close friends I kind of liked my own little "frio" bubble. After living here for the time that I have, I have come to love the love language of touch--it's not gross, it's not inappropriate, it's absolutely beautiful. My parents and I may not always be able to understand each other all the time but I know that they love me because of their body language. Touch and affection is something that I think the US in majority definitely loses out on--and I don't really like to compare my two homes for the most part, but when it comes to this aspect, I do prefer the general expression of love here. I think that I prefer it over what I commonly experience in the US because I think that I equate it to what I know from the bible. If Jesus greeted me I wouldn't expect it to be a handshake and a "Hello, I'm Jesus" but a full embrace with a kiss on the cheek and a "Hello, how are you, how was your day, are you well?"
This weekend I'm kind of just hanging around the house. It has also been pretty warm so I suspect I will visit the beach. As you already know, I will of course be going to mass or misa and celebrating Holy Week. I didn't mean to get into so many different things today with this post--I'm sorry if it was hard to follow. I hope your Easter weekend is good, wherever you may be!
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