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May 07, 2007
Telling Stories
“All human beings have an innate need to hear and tell stories and have a story to live by….Religion, whatever else it has done, has provided one of the main ways of meeting this abiding need.”
–Harvey Cox, The Seduction of the Spirit
On Sunday morning, I went with my host mother to church for Mass services. While I haven’t spoken about it all that much on my blog, going to church with my host mother has been an important part of my experience this semester. Not only has it given me the chance to sense a strong religious community present here in the Yucatán and learn more about the Catholic faith, but it has provided me with a time to talk to my host mother one-on-one.
Ben doesn’t accompany us to church and so it’s during our Sunday morning rides that I can speak a little bit more freely, speak a little more Spanish, all without interruption.
When I sit in church with my host mother, I do a lot of thinking—a lot of reflecting. It amazes me that the services are full every time I am there—men and women come, whole families, and students my own age. I look all around me, observing not only the people, but the building itself—the plain walls, the high ceilings, the depictions of religious iconography at every angle.
I do a lot of listening as well; I listen to the words of the Sunday morning prayers, to the greetings that Yucatecans give to their fellow church members, and to the sermon of the priest.
The priest speaks slow and clear, so I understand him very, very well.
He speaks words of high morals and values, of troubling times in Mexico and in the world abroad, and ways in which we can strengthen our community. And he speaks a lot about the importance of friendships.
There’s something very real about going to church in the Yucatán—it’s not at all like those t.v. evangelists. To be honest, I don’t really believe that god endorses t.v. evangelists. Going to church with my host family is peaceful at the scene, pleasing to the senses.
Because out of the words, sights, and sounds that are, I’m learning a lot and deepening my respect for others.
Posted by jlsumich at May 7, 2007 06:30 PM