Slamalil Kinal

According to the Tseltal people, for there to be "lekil kuxlejal" or good and abundant life, there must be tranquility and harmony as understood in the phrase "slamalil kinal," often translated as peace.  "Slamalil kinal" is social and cosmic tranquility, felt by the individual, but that reflects unity of wills, dreams and hopes that make up "a single heart", "jun nax ko´tantik.

Legacy of a Bishop

Legacy of a Bishop

BY ELENA HUEGEL ON MAY 09, 2017

jTatic Samuel, as he was lovingly known to all in this region of Mexico, was the visionary Bishop of the Catholic Church in San Cristobal de las Casas from 1959 to 1999. jTatic was the title the Mayan descendants, the Original Peoples of Chiapas, gave him and means "our dear father", a sign of respect and appreciation for his tireless work on behalf of the marginalized and the poor.  There are many ways to describe the life and ministry of Bishop Samuel Ruiz, but there is a particular legacy that touches my life and the work of Global Ministries here in this southern state of Mexico on the border with Guatemala.   jTatic Samuel knew he would not be around forever, but he saw  his call to "see that justice is done, let mercy be (his) first concern, and humbly obey (his) God" (Micah 6:8)  as growing and expanding in the organizations he helped to create during his time serving the church and the broader community.

In the  Institute for Intercultural Studies and  Research (INESIN in Spanish), organized by members of the Catholic Church and the United Church of Christ,  jTatic Samuel deposited his vision for ecumenical and intercultural dialogue where people from across religious divides and representing a  broad range of countries, races, and languages could come together, learn from each other and work towards healing the wounds of political and social oppression, environmental degradation,  forced  immigration, and gender inequality.  Mayan, Catholic and Protestant spiritualties come together, pooling their strengths to build God's kingdom of Shalom.  This is the organization where I am serving in Chiapas on behalf of Global Ministries.

Last week, Cara McKinney a Global Missions Intern who grew up in the Ohio Region of the Christian Church,  (Disciples of Christ),  arrived to San Cristobal de las Casas to work with another organization started under the auspices of jTatic Samuel: Melel Xojobal, which in the Tsotsil language means "True Light".   This organization works with indigenous boys, girls and teenagers encouraging them to promote, defend, and exercise of their rights through participative processes while discovering ways to improve their quality of life.  Cara will be working with teenagers in both school and out of school programs.

As both Cara and I enjoy and learn from the legacy of jTatic Samuel, you will be hearing more about how the seeds of justice, truth, hope and faith planted by one man have multiplied into a great harvest in the lives of individuals and communities throughout the state of Chiapas in Southern Mexico.      May we be faithful stewards of this legacy!

Shalom,

Lekil Kuxlejal

Today the children in the market taught me the meaning of Lekil Kuxlejal in Tseltal, a Mayan language.  It is the good life or the abundant life.  It is was they live in work, play and laughter.  It is what they dream because it is not fully here, as they see pain and sadness around them and sometimes inside them.  But it is not a utopia because it is not the impossible dream.  Lekil Kuxlejal exists in God´s perfect dream, but it has been damaged, without disappearing, and we can always work for it to be again. It is for today, tomorrow and always, and for everyone and everything.

In preparation for Easter

 All of our hope is founded in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection. Jesus’ resurrection inaugurates the reunification and remaking of heaven and earth. As resurrection unfolds, all that is good, true, and beautiful, becomes building material for the Kingdom, in ways we can’t yet fully see. Like the body of our Lord in the 40 days after the first Easter, the Kingdom slips in and out of sight, alternately terrifying and exhilarating us. It’s hard to grasp that God continues to use us as co-creators of this world, and that God will redeem and sanctify and perfect this world and not just leave it behind. It’s challenging to believe, when we know how broken, dysfunctional, grimy, and cruel this world can still be, and how easily we contribute to all that evil, even when we have heard the Good News. Our work – lay and ordained – is to proclaim resurrection in the face of despair and discouragement, over and over.
The Rev. Jennifer Brooke-Davidson 

Where there is smoke, there is a fire

Where there is smoke, there is a fire

With pungent spice burns the resinous heart wood of the Montezuma pine, "ocote" in Spanish,  drawing us round the Mayan altar.  We gather, Christians and those who profess no faith,  Tseltales, Tzotziles, Europeans, Mexicans, United Statesians, Canadians, Lebanese,  called by the smell, the smoke, the candles, the flowers into sacred space.  We pray for awakening to  peace in the midst of the political crisis and government sponsored violence, we pray for courage as the diversity of the environment disappears around us, we pray for justice in communities devastated by migration, alcoholism, drug trafficking.  We pray for the people of the United States to have the courage and perseverance, the wisdom and strength to stand in dignity, as the Mayan have stood again and again, over the centuries, bending under oppression, but not breaking, resilient and resistant.   With each prayer we turn, East, West, North, South.

I resist opening my heart in this liminal space, the doorway between heaven and earth, because of the smell.   Thousands of miles away, the pine plantations owned by powerful lumber companies  are burning like blue matchsticks covering Chile in a heavy gray blanket.  Homes, churches, native forests catch on fire.  A blaze near the Shalom Center threatens the 240 acres set apart by the Pentecostal Church of Chile and the national reserve I know so well, the Altos del Lircay.  As with  many of the other situations mentioned in the prayers, there is so little I can do.  Finally, when we turn to the south, I give in: I feel the tremble of the hummingbirds, the lizards, the condors, the foxes, the ancient trees.  It is the fear of fire and the ravages of humanity.  Thousands of miles away, in the highlands of Chiapas, surrounded by people in a place where "mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed" (Psalm 85: 10) I fight off insidious despair and breath deep, filling my lungs with the smell of commitment, imagination, and joy which abounds in the struggle for Shalom.   "For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and self-control."  2 Tim. 1:7

Elena Huegel

Feb. 28, 2017

Handing it over

Hello everyone!  It has been a while since I have updated my blog.  Here is a link to a recent article about Roots in the ruins from the Brookfield Institute.  ¡Enjoy!  Shalom E

http://www.brookfieldinstitute.org/news-resources-2/2017/2/27/handing-it-over-is-a-victory-in-itself