Curious

I am quite similar to my father

en guinda

In 1999 I traveled to a small village in northern El Salvador and met a young woman who wrote a brief history of the Salvadoran civil war. Returning home, I had that history translated by my son's high school spanish language class. One phrase in the history was a bit confusing, but was finally translated as "wild cherry tree". The history included reference to the young woman's brother who was reportedly born under a wild cherry tree..."en guinda". Returning to that village 12 years later, I visited that young woman...now 30, married with a young son, and lived for a few days with her parents and her extended family. I rekindled the strong affinity I have for this family and for the people in that small village...all survivors of the Salvadoran war. I remarked to her of the history she wrote, and how profoundly it had affected me.

Researching El Salvador after this latest visit, I came across a recently published book on the campesinos...peasants...of El Salvador, and how they organized themselves to handle the impact of the civil war. I was horrified and awe-struck to discover that "en guinda" has nothing to do with wild cherry trees, but was in fact a very organized and complex process whereby the campesinos in northern El Salvador literally lived "on the run" as a way to manage the impact of the war.

I want to go back to that village and re-thank that young woman for her history, and find a better way to express my incredible dismay and respect and awe and affinity for something she shared of her life, and her family life, and her people...now supported by a North American writer's book about en guinda.

balance?

Canadian mining stock appears to be on the rebound. That is a good thing for the economy, for the mining industry, for Canada, and for all the consumers of products derived from mined material.

Mining in El Salvador has destroyed already unstable crop land and has contaminated the drinking water in many communities. Salvadoran campesinos are often unable to fight against mining industry leaders or, worse yet, believe the promise of work and economic gain will be long-lasting and the environmental damage will be short-lived.

The mining industry has endeavored to sue the Salvadoran government and people over the right to mine. Canada has even engaged in a suit, though in one aspect of the overall legal picture Canada does not technically have a right to enter into that legal fray because of how the Canadian government is not part of a U.S.-based group. To gain an advantage, Canadian-based mining companies have opened U.S.-based sites, thereby circumventing the legal process.

The mining industry has continued to find ways to support their interests, those interests being in the ore and materials available in El Salvador. Salvadoran people have been left with limited means to support their interests.

We continue to make progress. Better stated, we are progressing whether we want to or not. We are progressing toward the result of what we are doing. This progress will not stop, regardless of the outcome.

i get it

i've come to understand the proper etiquette of text messaging...i need to always send one less message than usual

void

the hardest thing about divorce, when there are kids from the union that is broken, is that individual parents become unable to help their kids solve some problems. certainly there are problems that kids encounter for which the parents are not able to solve. it's just that in a divorce situation there are problems for which each parent lacks sufficient credibility in helping resolve because of the fracture of the original union. while one parent may be able to help in addressing issues for the kids that may pertain to other portions of their life, anything pertaining to the other parent is a matter for which the other parent is rarely, if ever, able to really help in bringing about a resolution...the divorce fractures a level of connectedness that isn't able to be bridged with sufficient validity. the parent is left to trust in the kids. and, in actuality, that is the best gift to share with a child of any age. it just doesn't feel all that sufficient.

fit

every so often i find myself in situations/places in which, though by my own choice, i am not best suited. currently that such situation/place is on the board of directors of the employee assistance society of north america. oh, i believe i have already made some contributions to mission and operations of the association. yet, i am amongst a group of thinkers and visionaries who are generally good at giving directions though not so inclined to jump in an do the work directly. and that is only appropriate...directors give direction to those who implement the directions. i have now been on three advisory boards...one a board of education, one a board of a christian theatre company. in all three experiences, i have found myself too involved in operations and unable to maintain the focus of the discussions of each board...those being discussions about building membership and raising money. to that end, i find myself increasingly unfit for the functions of the church committee i am part of that deals with a sistering relationship with a community in el salvador. oh, i am very passionate about the people of that community, just as i was very passionate about the students and the mission of the theatre company and the profession to which i find my career. yet, directing at an association level is not my proverbial cup of tea. i am a grunt, better suited to the trenches and leaving the directions and strategic plans and goal-setting and fund raising to a group of folks to which i am not best suited to engage

divine presence

what does God smell like?
the experience of church is to be a sensate experience.
we taste and see.
we do a great deal of listening.
we touch.
but what is the true essence of God?