On the night I wrote my last post, I was invited to the home of some young Mennonite folks who were playing a board game. There I met a handful of wonderful, energetic, and authentic people who welcomed me in, fed me delicious popcorn made with an air-popper, and taught me to play a fun strategy board game. I also met Hannah Eash, a woman with who I share much in common. She grew up just down the street from my grandmother and about 3 miles from my own childhood home. She and I rode the same bus together to elementary school and her family once purchased a horse from mine. She and I both graduated from college in 2007 with degrees in Peace Studies and Spanish (she went to Goshen) and she studied for a semester in Quito, Ecuador where I did my study abroad. The final great coincidence appeared as I was talking to her at the San Antonio Mennonite Church potluck and noticed something peculiar about her jewelry. "You're not going to believe this," I said, "but my mom made your earrings."
That morning I also attended Sunday School and enjoyed a great conversation about the difference between and transition from "Loneliness to Solitude" from Henri Nouwen's book "'Reaching Out." I had a lot to say and afterward I enjoyed talking with Lisa and Clinton Graham, a young couple who recently moved to Texas from Kentucky. Lisa said that they had an empty, efficiency apartment behind their house that I would be welcome to stay in if I ever wanted to. I had just been listening to a Divine Love teaching on being open to the gifts God is offering us, and I couldn't very well ignore this one. I took them up on it.
Between the transition from Jim's to the Grahams' home on a Tuesday afternoon, I spent some time at the Catholic Worker House where Jim, my host, met Marilyn, my college roommate, 8 years ago and where Dorothy Day's granddaughter, Martha, gave a talk on MLK day. I was inspired by Day's commitment to the poor, to living a life of service and simplicity, and her belief in Holy Anarchism. Although one of her first political acts was to fight for womens' suffrage in Washington DC, an action for which she was arrested, humiliated, and abused, she never once voted in an election. I was challenged by some of the guests at the CWH and felt simultaneous desires to run away from and ignore their suffering and to move toward them, to live with them and try to understand their suffering in order to know greater depths of love. Between the volunteers and the guests I noticed a division that is probably inevitable: there are the givers and the takers, those in need and those who feel abundant. I still don't can't be sure on which side of that line I fall. As a dumpster diver, an eater in soup kitchens, one who prefers to stay out of hotels and restaurants, I gather my sense of abundance from what is given freely. Are these gifts from God I'm collecting? The pecans I gathered from beneath a tree yesterday surely felt like Divine Providence. I suppose I am both. I am broken and in need of healing, but I also have some ability and desire to offer strength, refuge, and help to others. I'm not good at it. But I want to know this generous side of love. During Martha's talk at the CWH I met Katherine Hess. She respected that I had studied peace and that I was on a spiritual journey, and she also invited me to stay in her home, about 15 miles north of San Antonio.
I decided to stay with the Grahams for a day while I tried to make a decision about Mexico. I wandered around the Alamo and, in addition to taking in some history, I met two men who were to be my next sign. The first was a professional photographer who approached me because I was carrying my big pack and taking a photo of the Alamo. He was kind, respectable, and curious about my travels. His advice was to stay away from Mexico and to go to the most beautiful place in the USA: Havasu Falls, AZ. I thanked him for his advice, although I wasn't convinced. I hopped on the bus and there I met a man who was a professional chef, also very friendly and interested in my travels. Without knowing anything about my conversation 15 minutes earlier, he said, "Stay out of Mexico. You ought to go to this place near the Grand Canyon called Havasu Falls. It changed my life." OK. I'm listening.
Because Lisa and Clinton had already promised the apartment to Clinton's parents for this week, I was only able to stay with them for a day. Fortunately, Katherine Hess from the CWH said that I could stay with her and her family for a few days. I spent yesterday wandering around San Antonio's beautiful, winding River Walk and listened to a guided tour of the Alamo's history. I have more respect for Texas now and I'm glad to be a bit more informed about the state's rich and colorful history. I'd also like to learn more about David Crockett, a national hero and volunteer at the unfortunate battle of the Alamo. I remember watching a black and white tv series about him as a child, and that I had a coon-skin cap I loved to wear.
As I walked to meet Paul Hess at a bus stop near downtown, I saw a long-distance Mexican bus company with destinations all over Mexico and the US. My heart jumped. I realized that I could make the decision right then and there to hop on a $95 bus to Guadalajara and still make the gathering in Mexico. I asked the clerk about prices and times and then sat there in the terminal for a long time, thinking, writing, and seeking clarity. Finally, I knew that it would be better to stay in Texas. I want to get to know Hannah and folks from the Mennonite Church and the CWH and I have a feeling that San Antonio has much to teach me. Also, cilantro is really cheap here and the ground is littered with pecans in some places. I'm enjoying the sunshine too.
I looked forward to the gathering in Mexico as a time for intense spiritual reflection and development and missing that was one of my regrets in choosing not to go. However, I've been reading Thomas Merton's Autobiography, "Seven Story Mountain" and gaining a whole new respect for the Catholic Church and Christianity. The Hess's are a liberal Catholic family and I've enjoyed getting to know them through their stories of family and faith. Last night they invited me to a three day Catholic mens' retreat that begins this evening and ends with a Mass on Sunday. I'm excited to learn more about Catholic Faith as I spend these days focusing on God and exploring my spirituality. In addition to inviting me to the retreat, they offered me a scholarship to waive the $150 registration fee. I feel blessed.
Hey Nick, thanks for the link to your blog; I've enjoyed keeping track of your explorations since you left Austin. I'll be in San Antonio for a month or so in a week or two. If you're still there, perhaps we'll cross paths again.
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