My word for today is
RESILIENCY. Today we drove to Reiser Heights; a school that Reiser Relief
supports. It is in the mountains above Port-au-Prince, so I was able to take in
the beautiful Haitian countryside and even catch a couple of ‘cool’
breezes.
On our way to Reiser Heights (we rode in the back of a pick
up part of our way there…brought me back to my farm days!), I noticed a woman
with one leg begging for help from passing drivers. And I was struck that this
was the first ‘beggar’ I have seen in Haiti. I truly see more beggars in
downtown Minneapolis than in Port-au-Prince and Cite Soleil. The Haitians have
an incredible resiliency that I am coming to admire. If a building is too
structurally damaged to use, they pitch a tent along side it and set up shop or
housing on the same land. If they need to make money, they find something,
ANYTHING, to sell or peddle. If they need to pitch a pile of rocks into a dump
truck and they don’t have a bobcat, they use a shovel. If they don’t have
electrical lines to their home, they string their own. If they don’t have
tillable land on which to grow crops, they grow them on hillsides, in pots and
in crevices. If they can’t afford a butcher, they butcher on their own right
in the street. If there is no seat on the bus, they hang off the back. If they
don’t have a chainsaw, they use and ax. If they don’t have an ax they use a
machete. They don’t wait for a hand out or assistance or aid or the Red Cross,
they just make do.
The kids at the school today had no electricity, no
flushing toilets, no iPads, cell phones, white boards, and sometimes no paper or
pencils. But they are resilient. They learn and make do with what they have.
We passed out candy and stickers, and the kids were so cute, sticking them to
their hands, foreheads, tummies and noses.
There is something so incredibly refreshing in this
resiliency. I live in a world filled with regulations, protective services,
social services, insurance, lawsuits, ordinances, judgments, laws and
programs. Not that any of this is bad; it makes us safer. But does it make us
too safe? Does it make us dependent? Does it make us reliant? I’ll say
this, it sure was fun to ride in the back of a pickup truck again, just like I
used to do as a kid with the bull calves on our way to the Sales Barn.
I read a beautiful devotion in a book today called “God is No Stranger.”
“Father,
They say I am poor.
Thank you, Father.
May I also be poor in spirit,
that I may inherit the kingdom of God.”
What kind of world would we live in if we all thanked God
for everything that we view as a misfortune?
Peace,
Joyce
Similar to questioning as a little girl why Santa Claus
didn’t bring Christmas presents to poor people, I’ve always questioned why God
could allow for there to be poor people in the world. Today, as we were driving
up to Reiser Heights, a school founded by Father Reiser, I finally realized that
God had not forgotten the people of Haiti. As we climbed higher and higher into
the hills of Haiti, God was everywhere. He was in the clouds that formed around
the tops of the mountains, He was in the lush green trees and plants that
adorned the roadsides as we drove higher and higher, He was in the valleys lined
with crops meticulously tended by hand, by Haitian hands, and when we finally
arrived at Reiser Heights, He was in the eyes of the children that greeted us.
Sometimes it takes things less than perfect for us to be able to see what is
truly good. And today, God looked down on the world and saw that all was
good.
Blessings,
Ann
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