Valuing Life

I think that in the U.S. when we talk about valuing life, it often refers to a few hot topics: abortion, capital punishment, and euthanasia. Personally, I agree that they are all life issues, but I think there is more to valuing life than focusing on it's earthly beginnings and ends.

Here are some examples of ways in the last week or so that I have been challenged to value life:

Parties
Celebrations in Venezuela are a big deal, especially for birthdays. In the last week I have had the opportunity to attend two surprise birthday parties at the same house. It's a small home, with one bedroom, a kitchen area, and a living area. The living room is probably about the size of an average bedroom in the U.S. (not as big as a master bedroom), but it has about three couches and a small entertainment center in it. There were about fifteen of us at the parties, I think. We had popcorn and danced. Music is a big part of life here, but at the first party the electricity went out so we made our own. It made for a really special occasion, actually. We also had cake, of course, but here's it's served with Jell-O instead of ice cream. In the house live an older woman, her daughter, and the daughter's four children. One of them is a girl, and the other three are boys. All the boys have muscular dystrophy, and they recently lost an older fourth brother. It's rare to live past the age of twenty with this disease, so the future seems bleak for the other three, who continue to experience degeneration themselves. It's incredibly sad and tragic, yet, the family and neighbors are wonderfully loving in the way they include the boys in the activities. It's an odd experience, I imagine, to watch all three dying before your eyes. At the same time, I was struck by the fact that actually that's happening to all of us, just at a slower pace. I think it makes it easier to not think about death when it's not so obviously looming, but how would our lives be different if we did acknowledge it?

Violence
There is a lot of violence in the barrios. We are careful about not being out too late at night. We are almost always home in the early evening, and if we can't get home by 10pm we'll probably spend the night where we're at. Where we live is actually not too bad, especially because we benefit from the longevity of the team here, and the relationships they've formed. There are definitely people around who look out for us. In the barrio where we have been running the kids club, we have heard about violence since day one. Sometimes it's hard to overcome the fear of it when I go, and yet I know that my life is not any more valuable than one of the lives there, and fear is not from God. It also helps to know, for my own safety at least, that most of the violence is not random. As I've mentioned in previous posts, there is a strong sense of vengeance, so most violence is a response to a previous incident. This past Tuesday we were heading to the neighborhood for the afternoon kids club. Two motorcycles of police passed us, which I noticed. Though I've always been pretty observant, I think my time in Santa Ana has sharpened my observation skills regarding public safety. Anyway, a man on the street pointed them down in a certain direction. When we got near the area I saw a large crowd of people. At that point we turned down a street to go to the chapel where we hold the club. We were setting up when a young man we know came in and told us that someone had been shot. Shortly after that his aunt came and said that no mothers would be letting their kids go to the club that day, and that for our own safety we should leave. Before leaving we prayed for awhile in the chapel. At that point another of our contacts came and said it had been a fifteen year old boy that had been shot and killed. Apparently the boy had been threatening and shooting at other people, and for that reason other people had been hunting him for quite awhile. I guess they saw him riding on his motorcycle, and took advantage of the opportunity. Pondering the violence here has raised some interesting emotions for me. Having to think about it all the time in my work, and yet not having a close Christian community outside of work with whom to process, has meant that I've resorted to my own devices to deal with it. A result of this has been a sort of fatalistic callousness to the whole thing, where I'm not so touched by it. In a way I think you have to develop a tough skin to be able to move on, and yet the problem with this is that when you don't care as much anymore, you also don't care as much to try to stop it. I've lost some of my passion and compassion to seek peace because it's hard to continue to care that much. As a group we also talked about the different ways we all grieve in these situations, and I'm realizing that for myself, I need to be more intentional about my grieving process, and make sure it's something I don't deal with simply in my head, but that my heart is involved as well.

Sharing a Meal
This week I had the opportunity to go with our group to have dinner with a Venezuelan couple that we know. They have been loosely involved with some of InnerCHANGE's activities here for quite awhile. I've met them a few times already this summer, and really enjoy their company. The husband prepared a chicken curry with roti. His family is originally from Guyana, a neighboring country with a strong Indian influence. The food was absolutely amazing, but more so the company. The couple are two individuals that are great to talk with about all kinds of things. They are thoughtful and engaged, yet fun and humorous. Such times are moments I cherish even at home, and yet all the more so in a foreign country. Despite our cultural and language differences, we are still able to connect on a deep level because of our common faith and values. I was totally fed by that meal.

I only have two weeks left here in Caracas, so I am seeking to make the most of that time, and continue to enjoy life as it's lived here.