Vocation: A Call to Follow

As many of you know, my experience in El Alto as a Servant Team member with Word Made Flesh is well underway.  As required by my Servant Team leader I´ve begun reading Henri Nouwen´s ¡Gracias!.  And in this journal he describes that his journey to live in Peru and Bolivia for six months was immersed in the theme of calling, particularly to answer: "Am I called to live and serve God in Latin America?"  He described that as the time came closer for him to travel to Lima, the more and more affirmed Nouwen felt in his decision to go. He felt it was what he was supposed to do in order to answer the previous question.  Indeed a person cannot really know the answer to such questions as "Am I called to live/work in (insert field/place)?" unless they live out the question.  It has been said that the journey into the answer is in fact more important than the answer itself.  So as I follow into what God has invited me, I must take up the task of¨"living the question" (as Rilke has put it, Letters to a Young Poet) of calling.

 

I will attempt to identify the main themes of calling as I live and serve with Word Made Flesh, in El Alto.  I believe that the first theme that confronts me is that of humility.  Not only does it take humility to follow the Divine into territory previously unknown to self, it requires humility to successfully enter.  I would venture to say a humility that a human does not normally possess.  I´m not speaking of a mere entering, visiting, photo-taking the way of the tourist entering.  To really enter is a process of identification, understanding, and compassion--the way of Christ, as he literally moved into the neighborhood. Since I´m not even a degree as perfect as Christ, I must allow my whole being to be re-shaped, ever stumbling, as I learn how to be a human again, in this new culture.  To enter into a new culture requires a constant observation, a control of ones tongue, a dedication to quietness (at times even silence), and an attitude of gratitude. 

 

I would agree with my mentors in that living with a Bolivian family, right away, enhances the experience of acquiring a new language and becoming more at home in this culture.  My family (whose names omitted to protect their identities) are my best teachers and I can only pray that I will be a good student. 

 

So here´s a little antidote about my context of calling.  Amerindians have lived in Bolivia for thousands of years.  They Aymara has controlled most of Western Bolivia from the 1300s until the Inca of Peru conquered them and expanded their empire over the region of Bolivia. In the 1530s the Spaniards made Bolivia a colony called "Upper Peru" and they poured in by the thousands when silver was discovered in 1545.  The path to independence was led by a revolutionary named Simon Bolivar (whom the country is named after) in the early 1800s. Since then most of Bolivia´s history has consisted of nearly 200 coups and counter-coups.  The country has been ruled by many a dictators and only recently has a president, Evo Morales, for the people been placed in power. 

 

Here is a quote from my orientation manual about our immediate context:

     "El Alto, where we work, is populated mostly by the indigenous Aymara... the Aymara have been under some form of domination for most of their history.  They are a gentle, polite, hardworking people.  Often, they have moved from the campo (countryside) within the past generation.  Strong political and social activism often results in blockades, parades, and social demonstrations, sometimes daily."

 

Interestingly enough, there haven´t been as many demonstrations since the election of Morales in 2005.  When they do happen though, they are received as if its a part of the way of life and they are resolved according to commonly practiced procedures.  For example, the police and union workers clear vacant spaces in the roads for dynamite explosions--so only the road is affected.  Thus after needs are met or changes are made, life normalizes pretty rapidly. 

 

These are just a couple realities of my new home that I must patiently understand and incorporate into my new pattern of life. As I begin to read in a new language and think with new expressions, I return to the vulnerability of an young child.  So as I follow the Master along this path, I must take each step with an increasing trust.

 

Yesterday, Cara, led us on a walk of silence from the heights of El Alto (taking several micro-buses along the way) into the city of La Paz. I discovered that as I quieted my tongue and therefore my mind, my perception increased and I could hear more clearly. I could not only hear my environment more clearly, but also the whispers of the Master. Henri Nouwen reminded me of this when he said how unfortunate it is that thinking can deter true listening. Christ preached that if we can hear and truly listen, we can actually turn and be healed.

 

As I follow this calling into my new home in Bolivia, I pray that I may further quiet my mind so that I am more opened to the fullness of what the Master has for me. In this new place, mass transit of people and goods seems to exacerbate the over congestion, and yet there is a humble quietness about the people (despite the toots of their car-horns) that allows the drivers to be courteous and un-bothered. It could be just an acceptance of the reality of space, but something tells me that they see other vehicles as "people" because they´re really listening and ready to perceive.  May this also be true within me.