Mennonite Central Committee

A SALTer's Beatitudes

Press Release, December 2000
Ajusco, Mexico
by Sandy King

Blessed is she who gets lost, for then she is better able to experience God's leading.
For God was visible that day in my host parents' forgiveness and concern when I came home sobbing after I missed my bus stop and ended up getting home two hours late, preventing my host parents from going on an outing.

Blessed is she who feels awkward moving in with a new family, for the potential for learning from them is enormous.
For God was audible in the sing-song voice of my host mother as she repeated on a daily basis "Que te vaya bien" - May God go with you - as I headed off for school.

Blessed is she who cries, for the tears will bring the Spirit's refreshment.
For God was present in my fellow SALT'er Laura's calm, familiar voice on the phone after our first week of separation (following language study) as I cried out to her things like, "I can't make it 10 months here." For God was with me in her "I love you" ending to the call.

Blessed is she who is humble, for she will experience God in unexpected ways.
For God was laughing with me when I was assigned the duty of singing Spanish scripture songs into a mike, when I have not one ounce of musical knowledge.

Blessed is she who is willing, for her rewards and knowledge will be great.
For God has been ever-present in the unending hospitality my Mexican boss/friend and her family have shown me — from spending Day of the Dead sitting on gravestones of relatives sipping Coke, to sharing a bed with the 10-year-old daughter, to bathing in a river and sharing hot tortillas roasted over a fire with them.

Blessed is she who deals with bouts of loneliness, for she will find joy in the small things of life.
For God was with me as I happily lay on the couch, my belly full of hot chocolate, watching the elections of my country in another language.

Blessed is she who experiences sexism, for she may be better able to understand the traumas and pain of the women in her host community/culture.
For God was alive and kicking when my host mother, after seven weeks of distance between us, opened up and shared with me at the breakfast table the trauma of her childhood and youth. This woman, whom I once had labeled an "ice queen," poured out her soul and tears to me about her abusive mother and indifferent father and the unavailable father of her 14 year old daughter — what an enormous breakthrough! - that now I might be better able to understand her.

Blessed is she who is patient, for the waiting will reap great rewards.
For God was available to me via the computer screen as I receive an unexpected e-mail from an Eastern Mennonite University friend who actually took the time to look for my address, just to say she had been "thinking about me."

Blessed is she who is crazy enough to join SALT, for the year's learning experience will be more than worth it.
For I have found God in my new ability to live each day at a time - with great joy and contentedness, feeling a part of not only the church and family but also of the community. I am no longer counting down the months, but rather wondering how much it will hurt to say goodbye come August.