El Señor de los Milagros

---

Howdy doody! I hope all everyone is doing well. Saturday I went to the procession of El Señor de los Milagros (The Lord of Miracles). It's a huge and important procession here. It is the largest procession in Peru, so I hear. So I went, and only stayed downtown for about an hour or so. It was extremely crowded. Many of the streets in downtown Lima were shut down. It was a beautiful and respectful procession. I was thinking though. Peru is an extremely poor country. There is poverty on every street corner. Rich and poor literally live right next to each other. It is a huge problem here. Yet, there are so many people that believe strongly in Jesus and the Virgin Mary. It's a faith that I honestly cannot comprehend. Why? Because I don't live in such conditions. I'm not rich by any means, but I would say that I live rather comfortably compared to the situations of others. I guess what I am getting at is that we can learn something from these people. Whether it be faith or sacrifice. Some of us know not what it is like to really have to sacrifice time, money, food, drink, etc. To see the people that HAVE to do these things on a daily basis should make us look inside our own lives and think, "What do I really need?" not "What do I want?" I believe that when one is really suffering, that is where we learn what our necessities are, and we learn to appreciate them. That is the meaning behind Jesus' suffering as well. It is in suffering that we gain. I don't mean masochism, but whether it be financial suffering or physical suffering (hunger, illness, even sports), we walk away from that suffering with a new outlook on life, I think. Has anyone ever been without a shower for a few days and in those few days did a ton of physical exercise? How did it feel when you took that shower? This is a very simple example of what I mean. I may be preaching to the choir to some of you, but I think this message is important to us, since American culture is based on extremes (look at all the obesity, consumerism, and what not). Don't get me wrong, I love the US of A, but we all notice these things, do we not? Anyways, take care to all. Cheers.

---

Photos

El Señor
This thing weighs like half a ton.

El Señor 2

Comments

[Scott]

Beautidul pictures and words. Those Cathedrals pretty much blew me away. I find it most interesting that you were at those Cathedrals and that outhouse in the same trip. Very Very different settings.