true life planet

Leaving the Comarca in Panama and flying home was crazy. Things are so  different once outside of the Comarca.

In the airports on the way back, I found myself overwhelmed at the clothing people wore, the amount of food people consumed, the bright lights, the mall-like atmosphere, the sparkling clean bathrooms, the busyness of people, the amount of stuff people were buying in the duty free shops.

On my various flights back, I found myself amazed at my ability to adapt to the opinions and beliefs of my seat mates, who were all from interesting walks of life. They included a Christian couple, who lived in Panama City, and who I ended up spending the afternoon with in Houston over glasses of wine and oysters; a cage fighter from the Southern States who was working on a land/resort deal in Panama; a woman who was returning from Central America after a failed adoption; a Wycliffe Bible translator returning from Brazil;a man who sold guns(I think you call this job “arms dealer”) ; and most interesting of all, a Bahai man who lived in San Francisco and was returning from a nice vacation with his elderly dad.

The Bahai guy was fascinating. After a four hour layover with him, I knew more about the Bahai faith than I had learned living with the Ngobe for three months(many Ngobe are Bahai). What an interesting history this religion has,and what a fascinating presence it has in the world. It seems the Bahai are up to much good in some very remote places on Earth. I’m glad they are sharing the planet with me.

Interestingly, when I was living with the Ngobe, many of the Ngobe told me they were Bahai, but their understanding of what the Bahai faith is differs alot from what I have recently learned. In Soloy, the Bahai have built a very beautiful temple, and it is so pretty it is the nicest building in the Comarca. They have, with the cooperation of Microsoft, donated and manage a large computer lab which is open to the public(the only internet connection in the Comarca!). so, there is no doubt that they are up to good things, in a community where pretty much there aren’t alot of good things happening.

However, after talking to him, and doing some independent research on my own, I feel like I have to make a correction on my blog. This is a first!

So, when I was in the Comarca I spent alot of time with Bahai folks. Probably one quarter of the people believe in the Bahai faith. When I asked about their Bahai beliefs, everyone told me they were Evangelicals. So I wrote that on my blog.

But actually, that is not accurate. I think the reason the Ngobe say this is that they have different definitions for many words than Western culture. They may say they are Evangelical because in Ngobe culture an Evangelical person is seen as a person who is good. Everything is so simple in Ngobe culture, and that is alot different than in my culture where there is a constant quest for pointing out differences which is sometimes diguised as establishing clarity.

In Ngobe culture, especially since the most recent flood of missionary activity, it has become important for people to find commonality, and people will often ask one if they believe in Jesus. Say yes, and then commonality has been established. Perhaps what you believe about Jesus is not all that important, more that he lived and so on. Specifics of your belief are not required, as most people do not read or do not have a deep understanding of particular belief systems-although, let me be clear, that this doesn’t lesson their belief. For example, visit any religious service, whether it be Assembly of God, Catholic, Manatada( a religion that was started by an Ngobe woman in the recent past), or even Bahai, and you will find many of the same songs sung. There is much singing, and not much reading from any specific text.

So basically, it’s all about just getting along for the Ngobe. Which is kind of nice, I think, especially since I am from a culture where sometimes it seems like we practically strive to point of the differences between ourselves and others.

What a nice lesson to learn from the Ngobe: all men are brothers. Strive to find what you have in common with your fellow man. Such a non Western idea, and such a difficult concept for us to grasp coming from our cultural perspective.

Try it for a day. Just walk around doing whatever you do with your life, and instead of dividing people up into categories, just approach every person looking for commonality. You’ll find yourself quickly astonished just how much you have in common with people you never expected, and you may just learn to appreciate the vast variety in the human landscape a little bit more.

A special thanks for this valuable lesson learned to the beautiful Ngobe people of Panama, and also to all my seat mates on planes and long layovers who helped my put this into practice. You are all my brothers.

Gigi

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