For some time now, I’ve been really grappling with the idea of service – what it is all about, who exactly it is serving, and what it should look like in my own life. I think a common mindset I used to have when I was first getting into service was the idea of “look we’re doing such good things to help these less fortunate people.” Another mindset I had/still have sometimes is one of productivity – if I went to a place to serve, I wanted to see the fruits of my work. Sometimes if there were too many volunteers and I wasn’t constantly doing something that I felt was helpful, I would feel like it wasn’t a good service experience or a waste of my time.
I recently read this article about spiritual accompaniment, and the idea that when we do service, we should never look at is as one person or community coming in to help another because they need something of us, but rather to see service as a mutual relationship, both parties learning and growing from each other. It is not about coming in, throwing money or material goods at someone, then leaving, but rather coming into relationship with people and showing them that you love and care about them.
Now, as many of you know, I recently returned from an amazing trip to Mexico where we backpacked around for 3 weeks to about 7 different cities. It was going to be a mix between service and enjoyment. We were to visit an orphanage at the beginning of the trip and then I was going to spend a week volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity in Mexico City before returning.
Before leaving, a few people commented on how great it was that I was helping those less fortunate. I know it was just a kind comment, but it always made me feel a little uncomfortable, because 1) What I learned in El Salvador – although they may have less material items, they most certainly are not always less fortunate in being filled with God’s love; and 2) It made me feel like I was some superwomen, which most certainly I am not!
When I went to Casa Ayuda what I first pictured as a more institutional orphanage, I quickly learned that it is not an orphanage at all, but rather a family filled with love. Casa Ayuda was started by a couple, Victor and Elicia, who opened their house to children whose families were not properly caring for them. Although there are just 9 kids living in the house right now, they help over 100 families in the community who are struggling with various issues. Victor told us all about the projects that they have going on at the place – the first being their construction projects. They receive bins of trash from the city and find creative ways to recycle what some people would see as trash into beautiful works of art. They’ve used an old church door as their kitchen table, plastic crates to make light covers, and are making their own heated swimming pool by draping a hose on the top of a roof in which to heat the water via the sun! Victor mentioned how he liked this idea of taking in what some people have treated as trash and turning it into something beautiful, similar to the kids that they take in! The kids have teachers that come in to teach them art, music, dance, etc. and let me tell you – they have some serious talent. I was blown away by their artwork and they even taught Miguel and me some new Latin dance moves.
Looking back, I realize that it is not me who should be the one being praised for going out to work with these people, but the people themselves who have had to suffer various things, but have persisted through each day who should receive the praise. I felt as though I was not really bringing much help because they already had all that they needed – a home filled with love. It made me think perhaps when I or anyone for that matter goes out to volunteer, it is us who are looking for love and it is the people we work with who give us this.
Walking around San Miguel with the kids!
Our New Year’s Celebration!
On our hike up!
The view at the top!
After we left Casa Ayuda, we hiked up Cristo de la Montaña, a major site of pilgrimage with a statue of Christ and a church at the top of a big mountain. After quite the adventurous hike up the mountain (at times of which I doubted we would ever make it before dark), we got there just in time for the most beautiful sunset over the cities below. We spent the night up there and were able to hear hundreds of pilgrims singing praise to God the entire night long.
Surviving the Polar Vortex making sand angels!
The beach we camped at!
After mass in the morning, we headed to our next stop – Guadalajara. We spent a day exploring the city and the old Churches, and of course, this is where I left the key in the door all night long in our sketchy hotel (luckily, I had so many awesome people praying for our safety!). We then headed to la playa de Puerto Vallarta. We spent a few days there hanging out on the beach and even took a tour to this beautiful hollow island, Las Islas Marietas. We were able to see the whales and dolphins jumping all around on our way out there and snorkeled around the island for a while.
Our tent under the hippie tree!
We then decided to head up the coast to a smaller, less touristy beach town we had heard about called Sayulita. This was the ultimate Hippi beach – everyone with dreads, barefeet, and surfboards just chillin! We went to a great organic market, surfed, and camped on the beach under a beautiful Hippi tree.
View of Guanajuato on our Tour of the Crosses
The miraculous image of La Virgen!
We then made our way to Guanajuato, which we had heard great things about. We explored the city and hiked up some mountains on our “tour of the crosses” – to reach these two crosses we saw from the city below. What an amazing view from the top and beautiful place to say our daily rosary! After spending some more time in Apaseo el Alto, the town which Miguel is from, we made our last stop in el D.F. (Mexico City). We journeyed to La Basilica de La Virgen de Guadalupe and spent an entire day praying in the presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Juan Diego’s cloak (which I offered everyone of you and your intentions up in the protection of our Blessed Mother!). They have mass there every hour during the day!! We also explored the Aztec ruins in the city before I made my way back to the U.S.
Although I was a little sad that I ended up having to come back a little early and did not get to work with the Missionaries of Charity, it made me think more about the nature of service. When I originally left, I had talked about doing more “service” work and when I returned all my stories sounded like a long vacation! Yet, one thing I learned was that service does not always have to be a separate part of life – it can and should be more a way of life, incorporated into all we do. Throughout our trip, Miguel helped me to do just that. Whenever we would be walking down the streets ready for a meal, and we would pass by people begging on the street, we would go buy an extra meal, sit on the street, and enjoy the meal with our new friend, talking to them about life, the family, and their needs.
I am reading this amazing book right now called “Tattoos on the Heart” by Gregory Boyle, which is about a priest who does ministry with Latino gangs in California. I am reading the chapter about Compassion right now, and some of the quotes really connected to my experience in Mexico:
“Here is what we seek: a compassion that can stand in awe at what the poor have to carry, rather than stand in judgment at how they carry it.”
Pema Chodron, a Buddhist nun, also says that compassion is not measured in our service to those on the margins, but our willingness to see ourselves in kinship with them.
I just love this idea of being ONE with everyone in the world. Yes, we all have our different backgrounds, skin colors, jobs, education, living situations, struggles, but we are all one in our humanity and are all one because we all carry Christ within us – it is just a matter of peeling off the layers that build up on us over time to get down to the beautiful heart that we each all have!
When I come back to the question of what is service? What should it look like in my daily life? I’d have to say that right now, I believe that service is simply loving one another to the best of our abilities. I was about to say that service is the fruit of love, and then I remembered that Mother Teresa already discovered that when she said:
“The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace.”
The Missionaries of Charity are champions of what it means to serve – doing little things with great love, and loving until it hurts. Staying with them in Costa Rica taught me what it means to serve when it’s not always the easiest or most fun tasks, or even when you get no praise for your work. Maybe the heart of service isn’t always something so glorious on the outside (like sitting on a dirty street in Mexico City to share a meal), but between you, God, and the person you serve, it is like a polished diamond 🙂
———————————————————————————————————————————-
¿Por un tiempo, he pensado del idea del servicio – que significa, quien sirve, y como debe parecer en mi vida? Creo que es una mentalidad común que tuve cuando empecé del “mira las cosas buenas que hacemos para ayudar a estas personas pobres”. Otra mentalidad que tuve era la de productividad – si fuera a un lugar para servir, quería ver la fruta de mi trabajo. A veces si hubiera demasiado voluntariados y no estaba haciendo cosas todo el tiempo, sentí que era una pérdida de mi tiempo.
Recientemente leí un artículo del acompañamiento espiritual y la idea que cuando hacemos servicio, nunca debemos verlo como una persona o comunidad que viene a ayudar a otro porque necesitan algo de nosotros, sino como una relación mutual, ambos aprendiendo y creciendo del otro. No es venir, dar dinero o cosas materiales, y salir, sino venir en una relación con alguien y mostrarles que les quieres y les cuidas.
Acabo de regresar de un viaje increíble a México donde nos mochila por 3 semana a 7 diferentes ciudades. Iba a ser una mezcla del servicio y diversión. Íbamos a visitar un orfanatorio y luego iba a pasar una semana con las Misioneras de Caridad antes de regresar.
Antes de salir, algunas personas me dijeron que bueno era que iba a ir a ayudar a los menos afortunados. Sé que solo fue un comentario amable, pero me hizo sentir un poco incomoda, porque 1) Que aprendí en El Salvador – aunque tienen menos cosas materiales, no siempre tienen menos del amor de Dios y 2) Me hizo sentir como una superhéroe, que no soy!
Cuando fuimos a la Casa Ayuda, que al principio imaginaba como un orfanatorio, aprendí que no es un orfanatorio, sino una familia llena de amor. Casa Ayuda se fundó por Víctor y Elicia, quien abrió su casa a los niños quienes familias no estaban cuidándoles. Aunque solo hay 9 niños en la casa ahora, ayudan más que 100 familias en la comunidad.
Víctor nos dijo de sus proyectos – primero, de los proyectos de construcción. Usan basura de la comunidad para hacer arte bonito y cosas para la casa. Víctor nos dijo que es similar a su idea de la casa – tomar niños que has estado tratado como basura, y cambiarles en personas bonitas llena de amor. Aprenden de arte, música, baile, etc.
¡Pasamos el año nuevo allí con los niños, y fue mi mejor año nuevo en mi vida! En el pasado, tuve esta idea de encontrar el hombre perfecto para besar a la medianoche, y nunca era tan mágico que imaginaba. Pero en Casa Ayuda, encontré el amor tan genuino y fue mágico.
Me di cuenta que yo no debo ser la persona siendo elogiada para estar con estos niños, pero es esta gente quien han sufrido tanto y perseverado cada día que deben recibir la avanza. Allí ya tuvieron todo que necesitaban – un hogar llena de amor. Tal vez es nosotros quien va a hacer voluntariado que buscan el amor y ellos quien nos da.
Después de Casa Ayuda, fuimos a Cristo de la Montana, un lugar de peregrinación con una estatua de Cristo y una iglesia arriba. Después de una caminata interesante, llegamos por un atardecer tan bonitas arriba de las ciudades. Pasamos la noche con muchas peregrinos rezando toda la noche. Después de la misa en la mañana, salimos por Guadalajara. Exploramos las iglesias viejas y luego seguimos a la playa de Puerto Vallarta. Pasamos algunos días en la playa y fuimos a las Islas marietas, donde vimos las ballenas y delfines. Decidimos ir a Sayulita, la playa de los Hippies – todos con dreads, descalzo, y tablas de surfear. Fuimos a un mercado orgánico, surfeamos, y acampamos en la playa. Luego fuimos a Guanajuato, donde exploramos la ciudad y subimos algunas montañas para ver la ciudad. ¡Qué vista increíble de allí! Pasamos más tiempo en Apaseo El Alto, donde viene la familia de Miguel, y la última parada fue el D.F. Pasamos todo un día en la Basílica de La Virgen de Guadalupe y con la tilma de Juan Diego. Exploramos las ruinas de los aztecas antes de que regrese a los estados unidos!
Aunque era un poco triste que tuviera que regresar temprano y no fui con las Misioneras de Caridad, me hizo pensar del servicio. Antes de salir, hablé de hacer más trabajo de servicio, pero cuando regresé, todas mis historias sonaban como una vacación larga. Pero una cosa que aprendí del servicio es que no tiene que ser algo aparte de la vida diaria – puede y debe ser un manera de vida, en todo que hacemos. Durante el viaje, Miguel me ayudó hacer este. Cuando caminamos por las calles listos para comer, si pasamos por algunas personas pidiendo dinero, compararíamos otra comida, nos sentaríamos en la calle, y comeríamos con ellos, hablando de la vida y todo.
Ahora estoy leyendo un libro que se llama “Tattoos on the Heart” by Gregory Boyle, que es de un sacerdote quien trabaja con pandillas latinos en California. En el capítulo de la compasión, dice:
“Aquí es que buscamos: una compasión que puede ser en asombro de lo que los pobres tienen que llevar, y en vez de juzgar lo que tienen que cargar” Pema Chodron, una monja budista, dice que compasión no está medido en el servicio a los pobres, pero nuestro deseo de ver a nosotros mismos el mismo con ellos.
Me encanta esta idea de ser UNO con todos en el mundo. Si, tenemos diferentes colores de piel, trabajos, educación, desafíos, pero todos somos una humanidad y son unidos porque todos tienen Cristo adentro – ¡solo tenemos que quitar todo que se acumula con tiempo para ver los corazones bonitos que tenemos!
¿Cúando regreso a la pregunta de que es el servicio? Como debe parece en mi vida? Tengo que decir que ahora, creo que el servicio es amar a los de mas lo mejor que podemos. Madre Teresa dice que el servicio es la fruta del amor.
Las Misioneras de Caridad son campeones de que significa servir – haciendo cosas pequeñas con mucho amor, y amando hasta que duele. Pasando tiempo en Costa Rica me enseñó que significa servir cuando no siempre es fácil o divertido, o cuando no recibes alabanza para tu trabajo. Tal vez el corazón del servicio no siempre es algo glorioso afuera (como sentarse en una calle sucia en el D.F. para compartir una comida), pero entre tu, Dios, y la persona quien te sirves, es como un diamante pulido 🙂
Ven, Sígueme (Come, Follow Me) 