As I woke up this morning I began thinking about my last week in Guatemala - what memories I need to ensure are imprinted, the last minute gifts I need to pick up and about how I can take home with me the sense of calm I have taken on while I have been here.
While I have been away I have read alot (a typical way to deal with the challenges of living in a culture different from your own) and included in my reading has been Jean Vanier's Becoming Human. I finished the book ( actually his Massey lectures given in 1998; Anansi Press if you are trying to track it down) and during the last reading came across this statement
"Freedom comes in discovering that the truth in not a set of fixed certitudes but a mystery we enter into one step at a time. It is a process of going deeper and deeper into an unfathomable reality."
While I am still grabbling with all he says, his understanding of freedom is captivating. I am working on trying to understand some of the cultural differences I have experiences in a way that I can write about them and the concept of a mystery and not fixed certitudes make alot of sense as I think about time and personal relationships with the context of present day Mayan culture. I already know that whatever understandings I am able to develop will be complemented with more questions - a good thing I think!
During the time I have been here my lfe has taken on a much slower pace, balancing certainly a number of commitments but not so frenetic that I am not able to sleep at night because I am consumed with details and deadlines. How to take that home with me? It seems to me that not being so driven would be a kind of freedom - so perhaps I have taken the first steps and must find ways to continue on the path. A useful focus on my thinking in the coming days.
With hopes that all is well for you
Colina
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