A Modern-Day Pilgrimage

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage - Psalm 84:5

by  Aeren Martinez

Last August 25 semi-strangers got together to go on a journey to Guatemala. We formed a bond that I suspect will bind us for many years to come. We worked together, lived together, shared food, stories, dreams, hopes, fears, similarities and differences. We came together (via Faith@Work) for the purpose of helping to build a five-room schoolhouse and finding out what it means to be a “peregrino” or pilgrim. Our leaders urged us to encounter reality, reflect on it and be changed by our experience.

Encounter: Be Present

Being with my fellow pilgrims and being with the Mayans made me keenly aware that this was not an ordinary trip. For some time, I have been consciously trying to live in the moment by eliminating distractions and focusing on the present. It is not a simple task. Cutting away distractions is like peeling back an onion—the more you peel, the more layers there are.

In the village the children perhaps were better followers of the practice of living in the moment than we were. Nothing deterred them from being with us, even when we told them they had to go to school. They watched us carefully, they engaged us whenever they could and they contributed their efforts to help build the new school to the best of their ability. They carried buckets or pushed wheel barrels half-full of sand. They dumped the dirt we dug up from the foundation footings and bailed water from the footing after it rained. While their efforts were appreciated their purpose was not the work, it was being with us, it was living in the moment because soon we would be gone.

Reflect: Pilgrim or Tourist?

Reflection involves actively thinking about our observations. It required us to journal and not let the experience drift past us. I found myself writing my observations whenever I had a chance, although I must confess, I was too exhausted a few nights to write. Every day our guides gave us new questions, but the focus remained on the body of Christ and what it was to be a pilgrim versus a tourist. One day, I wrote about seeing a crippled man cleaning the sidewalk in front of an ice cream shop in Antigua. He did not walk; rather he scooted along the ground pulling himself with one hand and using the other to sweep the ground with a little hand broom.

At that moment I wasn’t a pilgrim — I was a tourist in search of a working ATM. I was withdrawn from my surroundings, distracted by my singular focus. I passed him once and then as I passed him a second time, I felt something that made me look back. Everyone moved around him like he was invisible as he managed to move quickly avoiding people’s feet. As I walked away, the image haunted me, and it left me wishing I had stopped to talk to him. I sensed Christ in this man and I felt guilt at turning away from him to continue my touristy afternoon. It was an opportunity lost, except for the fact that I pray for him still. I think a journal needs to be like this, a critical self-analysis answering questions like: What is spiritually out of balance in my relations with the people in my life (family, partner, children, church, and community)? Did I take enough time to feed my soul this week? It should be honest, filled with the not so pretty and the pretty memories as well.

Expect to Change

I wasn’t sure how much I could expect to change since this was my third trip to Guatemala, but I realize that just being with people changes me and them. As pilgrims we must be aware that as we are observing, so are we being observed. Females out-numbered the men in our group and not one woman shied away from the physically demanding work. We were a curiosity to the little girls in the village who only had their mothers and teachers as models. One of our greatest joys was our youngest pilgrim, 15-year old Rachel, who made fast friends with all the children and was greeted with lots of hugs and kisses every morning. She modeled a behavior they had not seen before — a girl working side by side with adults doing “man’s work” hauling sand, bending wire, and taking time to play with the children.

On the first day of work we saw boys grabbing wheelbarrows to help us move sand and while we encouraged the girls to help us…many giggled and just observed. By the second day many of the girls and boys dashed out of school to ferry wheelbarrows. For the littlest girls it meant filling a small plastic container with sand and placing it on their heads then walking up and down two hills from where the sand truck left its load because it could traverse no farther. It was not only that they wanted to help us; they felt empowered in helping themselves.

At the end of five days we were attached to the children and few dry eyes were left after Rachel tried to give goodbye comments to the children. She could not stop crying and then neither could we. The children and families of this little village had stolen our hearts; they are without a doubt part of our body of Christ. I knew that I experienced a change in them and in me.

Aeren Martinez is a fundraiser at Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place in Washington DC. Aeren is retired from the Army, lives in Washington DC and is active in Seeker’s Church.

Next FAW Pilgrimage July 21-31, 2007