Mexico
Moved with compassion
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At one of our recent Bible studies, Luis Eduardo started talking about what he had seen outside of a local hospital. This is where, of course, many families bring thier sick for treatment. The problem is, many of these families are very poor. They come from out of town, and have no family here to stay with. They can’t afford a hotel. So, they sleep outside the hospital on the ground.
Not only can they not afford a place to stay, they can’t afford warm clothes. Luis Eduardo said many of them were in shirt sleeves – men, women and children. With the temperatures getting down below 10C (50F), it’s cold enough to make more of the family sick!
Imagine the trauma of having someone in your family seriously ill – then added to that you have to sleep outside with no shelter, no warm clothes and little food. My friends wanted to do something about it.
You know, organized, planned giving is a great thing. Everyone should think through how they give, and make the most of what they can give. Jesus encouraged planning and counting the cost (Luk 14:25-32). But if we’re going to be like Jesus, we also have to let ourselves be "moved with compassion" (Mat 14:14). That means spontaneous, joyful giving – not relying entirely on calculating logic.
So I get pretty excited when I hear people simply seeing a need and getting excited about helping out!
Please pray for those who are giving up blankets, sweaters, coats and food for these people, and pray for those who have gone and will go again to the hospital to talk to these people and help where they can.
Speaking of spontaneous giving, many have been giving to help those who have been left with nothing after the disaster in the State of Tabasco. Many gave sacrificially right away. It’s now being made an official "project" of CAM International, so Lord willing others will be moved with compassion. Rod Fry just came back from Tabasco – to hear his account and see pictures, see his recent post.
Festival of colour, mockery and family
 Photo courtesy of drpoulette |
Do you want to understand Mexico? Then you’ll need to learn about the DÃa de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead. That’s why I want to tell you more about it. However, the Day(s) of the Dead is such a complex thing, I find myself at a loss to know what to say.
The holiday itself is an intersection of life, death, mockery, celebration, family, religion and culture.
For us, it was an intersection of so many of the questions and answers of why we are here – seeing and avoiding, exposing and protecting our children, knowing and not knowing when to speak and when to be silent, understanding and yet wanting to understand, wanting to speak but not being able to, fitting in and standing out. If it sounds like I’m speaking in riddles, maybe I am – last week was a riddle, and I don’t know the answer.
The celebration really goes from the 31st of October until the 2nd of November. And if you’re in Canada or the USA and you’re thinking "Hallowe’en", just forget it. I know Christians have had a lot of discussion – valid discussion – about how to be involved in Hallowe’en traditions. Hallowe’en has influenced Mexico, but the Day of the Dead celebration is something much different.
Where Canada’s Hallowe’en is mostly considered secular, the Day of the Dead is deeply religious in meaning (though with secular manifestations). The Day of the Dead is a part of national Mexican identity, so much so that the Mexican government endorses and promotes it. Foreigners are encouraged (even pressured) to be involved, because "if you want to live here you need to embrace the culture".
As far as I can tell, the Roman Catholic Church does not officially sanction Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations (though it has its own celebration – the solemn All Soul’s Day, where the living help the dead shorten their time in purgatory), but many priests do get involved in the celebrations.
This year the Roman Catholic Church here came out strong against the imported Hallowe’en traditions – claiming that "those who celebrate Halloween are worshipping a culture of death that is the product of a mix of pagan customs. The worst thing is that this celebration has been identified with neo-pagans, Satanism and occult worship."
The celebration is different wherever you go. Essentially (and you can read my previous post for a summary), the belief is that this is the time when the dead come back to visit us. Altars to the dead are set up, and offerings are placed for the dead to enjoy (such as their favourite food, alcohol, etc).
Part of an offering at our university.
Notice candy skulls, marigolds, "bread of the dead", food, and burning incense in the centre.
The altars are set up in houses, stores, schools, places of business, churches – wherever. Later, many of the offerings are moved to the cemetery. Picnics and parties take place in the cemetery – family events. These are not somber occasions, but times of colour, flowers, food, joking, candy, art, honour, and togetherness.
Our university was alive with Day of the Dead celebrations. There were altars and offerings all over the place. Students were asked to go to the market to buy offerings for the dead (and if the student declined, they were questioned strongly). At Hannah and Nathanael’s school, students were expected to bring flowers for the alter (orange marigolds). There was a potluck with parents bringing food. There were art projects, and lots of teaching about how "Mexican" it all is.
Incidentally, I won’t write all the details about what we personally decided about how our family would navigate all these traditions. That really would take a lot of writing – but feel free to ask us personally! Suffice to say we had a wild ride trying to know how to follow the Lord, show respect, learn and say what we needed to say.
 Buying flowers and traditional bread for the celebrations |
There is considerable debate about how the celebrations relate to traditional Roman Catholic and traditional indigenous beliefs in Mexico. The Aztecs set aside time to honour the dead and set up offerings for them as well. Not having a concept of Heaven and Hell, the Aztecs believed in a death "cycle", and a world of the dead that was very similar to the world of the living – and that connected with it. Some would be reincarnated, others influenced the world of the living in other ways.
Today, any concept of judgement after death is absent. Good times are remembered, bad times ignored. The world of the dead is much the same as the world of the living, and the dead visit us and interact with us much as they did when they were alive. And our actions can help to bring them "salvation".
Mexicans who feel they must reject these beliefs face dishonour in their families, rejection from their culture, uncertainty about how to honour their dead and interact with the living.
The holiday is quite possibly more important here than Christmas and Easter. Mexican traditions regarding the Day of the Dead have spread around the world. Related beliefs, such as the veneration of "Saint Death" are on the rise.
Confused? If not, you should be. Here are a few more places to look in order to better understand DÃa de los Muertos…
- If you just have time for one thing, view this short video – Día de los Muertos 2007
- BBC feature from 1999 – Mexico celebrates Day of the Dead
- Another news story – Church approval adds life to DÃa de los Muertos
- Mexico’s Catholic church slams Halloween; conservatives call for return to Day of Dead
- My photos and further commentary
- An Irish family’s thoughts on the Day of the Dead in Mexico
- Dennis Poulette reflects on the art of the day (notice the emphasis on Aztec beliefs about the underworld)
- I can really relate to the struggle of our friends in Puebla, and their post Day of The Dead – Round Two (these photos will give you a much better idea what the altars are really like)
- Views of the cemetery from friends in Cuernavaca
Floods impact a million in Tabasco, Mexico
A million people have been flooded out of their homes in the state of Tabasco, Mexico. After a week of rains (that ended Thursday), rivers in the states of Tabasco and Chiapas overflowed. Some parts of the river are 4 meters higher than normal. It is estimated that 70% of the state of Tabasco is underwater! It is believed that 300,000 people may still be trapped. A massive rescue operation is underway.
Click the icons on the map for more information…
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Crops have been 100% wiped out, and a fifth of the country’s oil production has been halted. Houses were just swallowed up, and cities look like lakes. Villahermosa (Tabasco’s capitol), home to over 335,000, is 80% underwater after flooding and collapsing dikes let the water pour in. Clean drinking water is no longer available, and rescue teams are rushing in to try to save lives and avoid epidemics.
Tabasco is home to the famous Olmec head monuments. On Monday they already had several feet of water and had piled sandbags to protect the artifacts.
See a video (Quicktime) of the flooding here..
Relief agencies are asking for help from other Mexican states to get supplies to people in time. You can help too, by contacting Samaritan’s Purse (USA site with article), who has already sent an emergency team to the area. Call them to give directly to the project.
Interestingly enough, I just did a presentation on natural disasters in my class this past week. I had no idea, of course, that this massive a disaster would strike Mexico a few days later. I talked about several major disasters (Mexico City earthquake – 1985, Saguenay Flood in Canada 1996, Vargas Mudslides in Venezuela 1999, and the California Wildfires this year), and shared from Romans 8 – creation groans, not with hopeless agony but with the pains of childbirth – the hope of a better world. Meanwhile, let’s pray that God’s love – a glimpse of the new world – will be shown in this tragedy.
At the Zoo with the Poulettes
 At La Ciudadela |
So here’s the story. Waaaay back in 2006, before we moved to Mexico, we saw a video of the Mexico City zoo (Chapultepec Zoo) on the blog of a family (the Poulette family) who lived in Mexico City. I attempted my own video when we went to the Calgary Zoo. Ever since we saw the Poulette’s video, we started talking about the zoo in Mexico City, and how we should go there someday.
This year the kids got some gift money from their Uncle Jeff, Aunt Tracy, and cousins Jevon and Ashlyn. So we decided to use it for a trip there (the zoo is actually free, but there’s gas, parking, and paying for some exhibits) (thanks guys!). So, we started making plans.
I thought it would be appropriate if we could actually go with the Poulette family. They’re about our age, and have a boy named Nathan about a year younger than Nathanael. We had never met them, only read their blog, but there’s always a first time!
So, Dennis Poulette and I arranged it via email.
We went to Mexico City on Friday, and hung around downtown. We went to a market (La Ciudadela) for some Christmas shopping, visited a park, and ate at Pizza Hut. 🙂
 Nathan, Nathanael and Hannah |
The next day we headed over to the Chapultepec Zoo, which is also downtown. We met up with Dennis, Janell and Nathan, and had a great time.
The zoo is definitly world-class, boasting over 2000 animals and beautiful exhibits. It’s famous for its pandas, but there’s lots more to see.
I put some photos in our Photo Gallery, so check them out (right now they’re in our Recent shots… album). I have some video too, but haven’t gotten it online.
Anyway, thanks to the Poulette family for hanging out with us! It was great to get to know them in the "real world", though, as you can imagine, it’s hard to talk too much when you’re chasing kids the whole time. But maybe we can do it again sometime!
Dennis and Janell work with Youth Ministry International in Mexico City. They have a passion to train trainers – who can train youth workers in Mexico! Check out their blog – The Poulette Family, and their video blog, Mexico Movies. Here’s their post about the event.