rich in spirit

Here we are on rainy lago titicaca, a beautiful lake surrounded by snowcapped mountains. It is an enormous lake spreading across both Peru and Bolivia and has played a major role in the spirituality of the indigenous communities here. We are in the town of Copacabana where the most important Bolivian shrine of la Virgen del Copacabana rests in the beautiful and immaculate cathedral. It is the first time we have seen Bolivians travelling in Bolivia as Copacabana is an important pilgrimage destination to see the virgen. The pilgrimage consists of families coming together, decorating their vehicles with flowers and ribbons, going to mass, huddling under a blanket to be blessed by the priest with holy water, drinking lots of beer and cider, lighting candles and prayers to the virgen, and taking lots of pictures :) It has been quite moving to see it all. The faces and smiles and tears are so humble and sincere. It truely is a holy place :)

The poverty, inequality and struggle here are quite real and this has been weighing heavy on our hearts. But what I am most amazed at is how hard these people work for so incredibly little and yet with still a smiling face and a grateful heart. They do not give up, no matter how high the moutain climbs, how hard the rain pours down, or how rotten the vegetables have turned. Their perservearance moves me and it gives me joy to see this. If there is anything that poverty can teach us (or any suffering for that matter), it is that the spirit can overcome :) And I feel incredibly grateful to be able to travel here and learn this grand lesson. Yet it saddens me immensely as I think of the wealth in America, the abundant resources and opportunities we have, the poor and lonely souls, and the selfish-consuming lifestlye that is so easy to fall into. We in America have been so blessed with abundance, yet we fill our lives with things and things and things. And we sit and stare at these things in contemplation and in greed wondering what next thing we should obtain. And because we always in our things, we are clueless of the spirit that roams about, that longs to touch and move our poor, lonely America. And I know this because I know this in my heart and I feel how easy it is to be wrapped up in things so much so that one misses the spirit moving. Rumi, a great spiritual companion and mystic poet, says "This overrichness is a subtle disease. Those who have it are blind to what is wrong and deaf to anyone who point it out." And thankfully, Bolivia (and Guatemala) has shaken my blindness and deafness. I feel a very strong conviction to search for a lifestyle that is in solidarity with the struggle of the poor-that is not focused on my own selfish material desires but rather on the song, (and the blues) of sentient beings. It will be a hard but real journey :) and I´ll need all the prayers and support I can get!!!!

In other news, my curls are coming in.....into the first stages of a mullet!!! Soooooooo, I will be wearing a hat for the remainder of our trip and haircut is on my list of things to do when I get back to Ohio :)

Two weeks till Easter!!!!!!! Love, love, love you all!

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