A Broad Abroad

Yes, that title actually came to me today, accompanied by Sinead O’Connor’s voice, who would otherwise be singing “this is the last day of our acquaintance”.  To try to end it with a bang would have been futile.  How could I top the last 5 months?!  So I slept late, ate salbutes, then sat under a palapa on the beach while a cool breeze blew.  I napped, read one of the few English books I found on the posada’s shelves and woke from my nap to wander into town and buy the cool beverage that would accompany this evening’s rum.  Hedonism?  Maybe.

Tomorrow I’ll catch a ferry to chiquila, timed to meet the bus to cancun.  It still seems a bit unreal.  The waters-letson clan will pick me up at SFO and I can only hope this includes Sammy, my soon-to-be godson.   By all accounts be is a real charmer.  I left him when he was only weeks old - when babies are simply babies.  now he’s his own little person.  I was asked to be his godmother while on the road.  despite my unorthodox credentials I do think about “God” a lot and amy and brian, whom I admire for their open-mindedness, reached out to me.

So now I think I’ll actually go have dinner at a restaurant.  I better get a move on.

I am moved by profound faith, whether I witness it in a church, mosque, temple or on the street.  I’ve seen sooo much of it the past few weeks.  People dropping to their knees, crawling to the statue of a saint, speaking, praying, crying to it with such intensity.  Just like seeing the simple act of a man lying a mat on the sidewalk to pay to mecca. It makes me tear up.

But it goes beyond faith.  I once got choked up at an Ethiopian new years celebration.  Maybe it’s about seeing a community come together and celebrate, motivated by a common goal or background, or belief.  It’s such a deep human need, isn’t it?  To be part of a community.  Part of something bigger than the individual.  Something that gives purpose.   It’s something I think of often.  Why are there so many different religions around the globe?  One can say “well, I believe in mine because it is true.  It is the one true religion”.  But if that is so, why were all the others created out of thin air? Why, everywhere around the world, wasn’t it good enough to just live life and not worship?   Why do these questions about human nature intrigue me so much!!!??