On Thankfulness

As Thanksgiving approaches, I have thought (naturally) about the subject of thankfulness and gratitude, and apparently it is not a subject I have ever talked about directly in this particular blog, so I would like to correct that notable oversight. Thinking about the things one has to be grateful for is a useful task, a balance to the sort of complaints that are sometimes a bit too quick to come. Though this almost-completed year has had a lot of stress, I have many things to be very thankful for, and while this is not a complete list, it should at least serve as a start.

*Start the drumroll*

I would first like to thank God (a good place to start), because while this year has been crazy, stresfull, and full of ups and downs, it has also been full of a lot of much-needed lessons, and much-needed love. I'm not sure where some of the parts of my life are going, but I am thankful to be alive, in good health, with people who love me (more on that below). I consider much of these developments to be due to the grace of God and not my own modest skill.

I would also like to thank my family this year, both in the physical and spiritual sense. As I have detailed in at least one post, I have had a difficult time with some members of my family this year, but getting some issues out in the open helped me (and they) realize that our love for each other was present, even if it was not always recognized. I get the feeling my family is always going to be the source of some drama in my life, but things are much easier to deal with when you can see the love. My spiritual family in South America this year was also especially warm and loving, and helped me to see that some of the issues I struggle with have at the base of them a lack of recognition of love, and are much easier to deal with in the context of loving relationships with other people. We were not made to be alone, but were made to live in a nexus of warm and affectionate relationships.

Speaking of relationships, the feast in Mendoza has given me a very unusual one with a very lovely young lady named Cony. I cannot call her my girlfriend, as she is not, but in being a sweet and loving and affectionate young lady, full of kind words, a gentle touch, and an open heart, she showed me something very important that I needed to learn, and taught me that underneath all of the scars that there is a loving, tender, and even brave heart within me, and that I have the capacity to love and feel loved in return, and that is a gift I greatly treasure, even if I don't really know how to handle it at this point, as I'm still trying to sort it all out. Again, this blessing was not due to my own doing, but rather was a gift from God through a sweet young lady who I hope I always have the chance to chat with.

I must also give some thanks to other friends that I have, as they have patiently listened to me tell my complicated stories, help me figure out what it means, and been generally supportive even in difficult times. A good friend is one who celebrates with those who laugh, and cries with those who mourn, and there has been plenty of both this year to be had. My friends have given me some welcome advice, helped me calm down my rather tense nerves, and given congratulations (and the occasional warning) when necessary, as well as giving many recommendations on books to read, podcasts to listen to, and so on. Without such friends in my life, I would certainly be a lot worse off. Even a kvetchy sort like myself has much to be thankful for, and so do you.

A Photolog of Mendoza

Considering how much I enjoyed the Feast of Tabernacles this year in Mendoza, and how much my blog could use some more lighthearted and happy posts, I figured that it would be good to show my readers (whomever they are) some of the photos I liked best of my collection, and tell the tales behind them. So, without any further ado, here are my favorite 12 photos of my feast in Mendoza this year:

The first photo, off to the left, is a photo of the Hotel Del Ejercito De Los Andes (in English, that is the Hotel of the Army of the Andes) in Mendoza, Argentina, where I (and the brethren of South America who attended the feast in that location) stayed, and where services and the events for the site were held. While the Americans stayed at a different hotel some miles away, I figured that it would be more fun to spend my time with the local brethren. Interestingly enough, earlier this year there was a fire at this hotel, and many brethren hoped that the feast would be held at a different hotel, but that proved not to be the case, and the rooms in the new part of the hotel were quite nice (I was lucky enough to share one with six other soccer mad young men from Argentina and Chile, and we all had a great time talking with each other.
This next photo to the left is a silly photo of me. While having dinner with my friend Cony (who you will be seeing a lot of in this entry), I was trying to explain what sort of meat people eat in the US (apparently, Chileans do not eat much beef because their country lacks a plains region, being a slender mountainous realm bordering the sea. Unsurprisingly enough, they eat a lot of fish there. Since I did not know the Spanish word for deer, I made a brave attempt at playing charades to explain what a deer was to my dear Chilean friend, and she thought it was so funny looking she took a picture of it. As you can see from the smile on my face, I didn't mind that one bit either.

Speaking of my dear friend Cony, early in the feast, as we were just getting to know each other, she thought it would be a fun idea to take my glasses and wear them. Despite not being able to see very well without my glasses, I was able to take this excellent shot of my funny friend (thanks, no doubt, to the autozoom on my digital camera). I think she even manages to look pretty wearing my glasses, and that is an impressive task. Judging from her smile, it's pretty obvious she's having a good time of herself too, which is a large part of the joy of the feast.


Speaking of my lovely Chilean friend Cony again, this next photo to the left comes from the wedding that occurred during the Feast of Tabernacles this year in Mendoza. I was responsible for translating the ceremony from Spanish to English, where Mr. Langarica (the pastor in charge of the congregations for UCG down in the Southern Cone of South America) gave a lengthy message about how Satan is attempting to destroy society by attacking the institution of marriage. Anyway, Cony was the lucky young lady who caught the bouquet after the wedding, so I took this shot of her with her sweet smile, and avoided teasing her too much about it, as she was somewhat embarassed to have caught the bouquet (as the same traditions apply in South America as apply in the US about prompt marriage).





During the Feast, there was a lot of dancing, and for once I actually enjoyed dancing a lot (in large part because I had a very lovely and friendly person to dance with, which means a lot to me). There was dancing after the wedding, which I did not take any pictures of, but during the second dance of the Feast, the dance for Jovenes y Solteros (that is, young people and singles), I was able to take a picture of my lovely and happy dance partner, smiling as is her habit. Now, it should be noted as well, that part of the reason she was smiling is because I was dressed even more comically than she was, with a bright red wig on that is mercifully not in this photo (though plenty of people managed to take pictures of it). Sometimes it's worth looking a little silly to enjoy time with those you care about.





Besides the dancing among the people at the site, there were also a lot of folk dances held at Mendoza. At least two nights were dedicated mostly to folk dances where the brethren of South America demonstrated their folk traditions to others, and I had the joy of being able to watch my friend Cony (unsurprisingly enough, in the middle of this picture) dance in a few of these folk dances herself with the other young people of South America.




Now, as I mentioned earlier, sometimes it's good to be a little bit silly if one is spending time with friends. I certainly could use being silly and lighthearted a little more often, I think (one of the reasons I enjoyed the feast in Mendoza so much), but my roommate Marcelo obviously is getting into the spirit in this photo to the left, where he is sitting in front of the restroom in our hotel room making sure that only very important people use our bathroom. Since our room was the headquarters of the soccer tournament, our room was quite crowded with people coming and going often, especially early in the morning (as the soccer games started at 7AM most mornings, except for high Holy Days). Needless to say, no one slept very much, as all of us had more important concerns.






Speaking of Marcelo again, I learned a new expression during the feast from my South American friends: 1313, referring to the flirtatious winking in MSN Messenger, commonly used by the young brethren in South America to keep in touch (Facebook is pretty common as well). Here, at a nice steakhouse in Mendoza, Marcelo is attempting to flirt with Robin, a young lady from Virginia. It was refreshing to note that the brethren in South America were warm and affectionate and friendly across all sorts of boundaries that normally serve to divide us and keep us from enjoying each other's company.

Another photo from the night at the steakhouse was this next photo to the left. Here Daniel, the unofficial leader of the young adults in Santiago, Chile, and the organizer of this year's soccer tournament (where the Singles ended up tying the employees of the hotel 3-3 in the final after winning against the Middle Aged All-Stars and the Young Married People), and I are enjoying a fine moment in between eating steak. Daniel himself was a very excellent fellow, very friendly, with a good knowledge of English, and a strong faith. Indeed, he had been disfellowshipped from UCG a few years ago after some rumors had been spread about him and a young lady who is now his fiance, but thankfully the truth was revealed and he was able to come back to church, where his faith and his generous spirit remained intact. He and I had a Bible Study after services on the Last Great Day as well where we talked about the problems of respect for authority that are rampant and what can be done about them. I must say, I have a lot of respect for him, for his generosity of spirit to his brethren, for his joy, and for his strong faith and sense of responsibility for those around him.
For me, one of the biggest aspects of this feast was family. This focus on family took several aspects. One of the aspects was the family of faith. There were at least ten baptisms on the evening of the Last Great Day as the feast drew to a close. On that night before the final services, brethren from many parts of South America were baptized by some of the elders, including Mr. Fred Nance (the fellow in the yellow shirt), who visited with his wife and stepsons from the United States, gave some messages, and served as a fellow translator with me. As the members of South America (except in Santiago) are scattered in small congregations, it is only at the Spring and Fall feasts that any large enough group of them are together with elders where baptisms are possible.

As I mentioned earlier, there was a wedding during the feast in Mendoza, and this is a picture of the bridge and groom enjoying their first slice of wedding cake. The bride came from a rural area in Northern Argentina, near the border with Paraguay, where only her family was in the church. The groom is part of about a couple dozen brethren in the city of Cordoba, roughly in the middle of Argentina. Dating long distance is as hard in South America, where there may only be a couple of singles in each congregation, thought of largely as brothers and sisters, as it is in the United States, so someone will probably be ranting a little less, at least, about this subject.

As is to be expected, family is very important among the brethren in South America. Here, to our left, we have Cony and her family. After services on the Last Great Day I wanted to make sure I had a picture of them all, since I had the chance to meet all of them and enjoy their company during the Feast. Cony's father and mother appear at least acceptable with the affectionate regard Cony and I treated each other, though it is obvious that Cony's little sister Jenny is less than pleased about the fact that her big sister had someone with such an interest in her. Someday, Jenny, you too will understand the joy of someone's company like your sister did. Just not yet.

On the morning after the Last Great Day, it was time for us to depart Mendoza and return back home. However, before we left, I wanted to take one last picture with my lovely new friend. After breakfast, where Cony gave me a photo of herself to treasure in my wallet, Cony's father was generous enough to take this picture of Cony and I in front of the hotel. I know I for one will always remember this feast, and remember the wonderful time I spent with my brethren. Thankfully, Cony and I have been able to keep in touch, as daunting as the distance is between Tampa, Florida and Santiago, Chile. I definitely plan on coming back next year, God willing, and enjoying another fine feast with my brothers and sisters from South America. Salud.

Such Is Life In A Fallen World

Today is Election Day in the United States, and given the fact that the Feast of Tabernacles has recently ended as well (a most wonderful Feast, I might add, in many ways), my thoughts are on the tension that exists in the Christian between the world that is and the world to come, between our earthly citizenship and in our citizenship in the Jerusalem that is above. These tensions are not new, but have existed as long as godly believers have dwelt in ungodly realms, from the travails of Daniel the prophet in corrupt Babylon to the difficulties of early Christians in occupied Judea under Roman rule (and even more so for Paul, who was himself a Roman citizen and thus acutely aware of the tensions of citizenship above and below). Since these problems are not new, they are not likely to go away no matter what I or anyone else may say about them, but at least facing these problems may benefit us by forcing our attention on the dilemmas we struggle with.

It is the belief of UCG (and many other pietistic religious organizations as well), its ministry, and the majority of its members, that voting is a sign that one has become a part of the fallen world of corrupt politics, with the wars and division, the lying and deception that are regretfully part of the political process. This disparagement of politics is often accompanied by a lack of self-knowledge about how ubiquitous politics is in our own congregations and organizations, partly because we are human and still struggle (hopefully) with our human lusts for power and security and glory, and partly because power exists wherever two or three (or more) are gathered for any purpose, and that the allotment of power itself reflects a political system (whether one likes it or not), regardless of how that power is gained or used. The disparagement of politics as nasty and unclean business which no Christian can or should engage in masks the fact that we ourselves are also political, even despite our own sincere and heartfelt intentions not to be political in the mean-spirited, malicious, false, and base way we see around us.

The way things are are not the way things ought to be, in politics or in many other ways. Nonetheless, we live in a fallen world where our beliefs are often in tension with each other because of the way in which sin has spread throughout our world. We ourselves struggle (sometimes successfully, and sometimes not) with our own sinful desires, and struggle to counteract the impact of sin in our relationships with other people, as well as the families we are born or marry into, the companies we own or work for, the schools we attend or send our children to, the churches we support and attend, and the nations of which we are citizens. Even though we are also citizens of that Jerusalem above (something we should never forget or minimize), we are also in a nexus of relationships and entanglements here below simply by being here, without our wish or choice in the matter, and these relationships carry with them sometimes burdensome and unpleasant responsibilities that lead to dilemmas in how we can fulfill our obligations here and above at the same time.

There are no doubt some people who find comfort in either extreme--that we should take no responsibility here and solely be pious and wait and hope for the Kingdom of God (a choice that often makes life on earth hell for ourselves and others because politics loses the influence of its righteous citizenry and becomes a playpen for knaves and scoundrels of the worst sort who seek to prey on the basest motives of their citizenry), or that there is no danger of even serious involvement in politics as they are. As can be expected, though, I take no comfort in either extreme but feel fully the tension between both pulls, the pulls of my responsibility to my fellow citizens here and to my responsibilities to my citizenship above. (My studies in engineering have led me to understand and lament that tension, the state of being pulled in two directions at the same time, is the natural state of my existence, for better or for worse).

It is in light of that tension that I long for the Jerusalem that is above, without forgetting that I have not yet reached that blessed city free of divided loyalties and quibbles about the lesser of two evils and the way in which my own life falls so pitifully short of that noble standard which I most sincerely believe, and it is in light of the feast that just ended that I would like to turn as I close this particular line of thought. This past feast I spent ten days in the city of Mendoza, Argentina with some of the most loving and affectionate brethren I have ever met, who showered upon this outgoing stranger more love and concern that I quite knew how to handle. We ate and chatted, hugged and kissed on the cheek, sang and danced without concern for borders, rejoicing in our common citizenship above. Since I am able to speak and understand Spanish, there was no distance of language between us either, as we were able to communicate with each other our common sentiment of ourselves as brothers and sisters, no matter how far apart we may reside. This love and concern, this affectionate regard, I believe will endure into the time when we will dwell in the Jerusalem above as fellow citizens of that heavenly kingdom.

And when those days ended, we had to return (mournfully, in the case of some of us, as loved ones now became far away) to the fallen world we had temporarily left behind us. I would like to hope that I and others were better people for having spent that time together, as short as it is, but it is only a foretaste of what is to come. May we live to see the day when we must no longer struggle with how to live in a fallen world, but can enjoy life in a new heaven and new earth, without the malign influence of sin and corruption, of death and loss. And may that vision of a better life that we can experience only fleetingly give us strength to endure what we must until that bright and glorious day yet to come.