Learning from the Unexpected

“A busy man who walks up to a precious flower and says: what for God’s sake are you doing here? Can’t you get busy someway? and then finds himself unable to understand the flower’s response: I am so sorry, sir, but I am just here to be beautiful”. How can we also come to this wisdom of the flower that being is more important that doing?”(H.Nouwen)

I am going to tell you the story of someone I just met and has blessed my life. I met Carl at my friend David’s house. He was just another common guy of the many people I have met through others, until he came to one of the Posadas. In every posada we tried to choose someone who will characterized Joseph and Mary while we sing the “posadas’ songs”. Carl was chosen to represent Joseph. Most of the people really don’t care what they are representing. Most of the people do it for the fun of it, but this was not the case of Carl. After everybody tried to sing, in a very out of tune melody, after the piñata was broken, after all the fellowship was gone; Carl called me because he wanted to talk to me. When Carl and I were alone, he bowed down to me and with reverence he handed me the clothing he used as a costume saying, “thank you for the honor you gave me when you asked me to characterized Joseph. When I was a child I used to to go church and I heard all the stories about Joseph and Mary, so being Joseph tonight has touched my heart and honor to represent hi”. I really didn’t know what to think about it because this was the first time someone has come to me with such a statement. Carl’s response makes me think if I can also answer like the flower in the story I shared in the beginning that being is more important than doing. Carl’s humility reminded me about the value of “being”…….and as Isaac of Nineveh said “He who knows his sins is much greater that he who makes someone rise from the dead. He who can really cry one hour about himself is greater than he who teaches the whole world; he who knows his own weakness is greater than he who sees the angels”……by the way he has opened his house for next year posadas…..

Posted by Miguel Carpizo in his state of brokenness
Escrito por Miguel Carpizo en su estado de quebrantamiento

The Real Nativity

In many churches, communities, fellowships or groups, starting with our own, we want to create an atmosphere of true fellowship; of people that always smile, always have the right word to say, and most of all of people giving the glory to God. We want to be an example for the people “outside” of our congregations, but what if we are the outsiders? We want to create a vision so we know where are we heading, we want to create a mission so we know how are we going to be working, we want to create discipleship classes so people can learn, we want to create programs so people can get involved. But what if true community is not about all these, “life in community does not keep the darkness away. Jealousy, anger, the feeling of being rejected or neglected, the sense of not truly belonging–all of these emerged in the context of a community striving for a life of forgiveness, reconciliation, and healing…Community is to keep moving towards the light precisely when the darkness–when our differences, when being document or undocumented, when we are good pastors or when we don’t have any idea of what to do next, when we don’t speak the language, when we feel out of place, when envy feelings come out, when judgment is proclaimed,when we don’t want to be part of any church anymore–is so real” (Italics by Nouwen)…..so it is ok to be imperfect!! The moment we realized our imperfection toward others, towards ourselves then we can truly relax and stand in awe before the creation of humanity and nature. This is when nativity becomes real, and real community sprouts out.

Posted by Miguel Carpizo in his state of brokenness
Escrito por Miguel Carpizo en su estado de quebrantamiento

As a Symbol of Humanity

In what century do I live, I ask myself?, when I made the decision to come to the United States and serve as missionary I was so excited. So excited because I was coming to the country where all the missionaries I knew were from, I was coming to a “first” world country so advance in technology with extremely friendly people (that was the way I see them back in Mexico). In the midst of Christmas I have been reminded that it doesn’t matter if we live in a “first” or “third” country, we are still human beings and , there are no barriers between each others, unless we are the ones creating them….. my heart cries when I see people with such hate towards others, and as my friend David said last night in the posada, “we expresses our sincere belief that the nativity of humanity overlaps all borders. We are all immigrants within the borders of this existence. We are all neighbors in the neighborhood of eternity.“……Let’s keep building bridges between cultures, between people, between each other. Let us see people not with our minds but with our heart as symbol of peace, as a symbol of humanity.

Posted by Miguel Carpizo in his state of brokenness
Escrito por Miguel Carpizo en su estado de quebrantamiento

Are we listening?

I really needed to share this with you. My last post was written late Wednesday nigh, early Thursday morning because I was having a little of trouble getting to sleep. So I decided to keep doing my Life Journal and this is the word that came alive and let me tell you Jeff shared this word to me last week. Are we listening?
” I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.”(Hebrews 5:11-14), but of course you need to read what Hebrews 5:7-10 has to say, “Trusting-obedience by suffering”…

This is what not listening to His voice will make of us, little babies…isn’t His word amazing? May we can listen to God and grow up in Him. Just remember than when we grow up we don’t go up, but down into the cross.

Posted by Miguel Carpizo in his state of brokenness
Escrito por Miguel Carpizo en su estado de quebrantamiento

Embracing our Shadows

I started another book today, of course is Henry Nouwen. Nouwen has become an instrument to get me closer to Christ and to Abba. His writings has helped me to get deeper on the understanding of my humanity, my brokenness, but also to realized that I immensely loved by God. Here are couple of words to think, “Nouwen urges us not to bypass loneliness, hospitality, and illusion. They are the very route to solitude, hospitality, and prayer. It is in the midst of the old that we encounter new life. The careful and honest articulation(rather than avoidance) of the ambiguities, uncertainties, and painful condition of everyday existence can bring us hope and renewal. Our vision of the future is born out of the sufferings of the present and our compassion for others out of our despair. In other words, only by embracing our shadows can become fully integrated and authentic spiritual pilgrims. As Nouwen points out. Jesus shows, both in his teaching and in his life, that true joy often is hidden in the midst of our sorrow, and that the dance of life finds its beginnings in grief”.(The Dance of Life 25)

It is amazing to realize that God indeed speaks to us and like Henry states is an “absurd living a way of life in which we remain deaf to the voice which speaks to us in our silence. It seems as though the world in which we live conspires against our hearing that voice and tries to make us absolutely deaf” (28)

Today I read what I just wrote here, but yesterday while reading the Life Journal the Words speaks into my heart that “God who got everything started and keeps everything going now completes the work by making the salvation pioneer perfect through suffering as he leads all these people to glory”(Hebrews 2:10-12)

Embracing my shadows and suffering will lead me to glory, to the dance of life, to breath Him in every moment, even if takes my breath away from joy or pain. His voice still speaking and in this moments when I am able to hear His voice in the midst of any shadow or suffering I know I haven’t become deaf to Him.

Embrace your shadows….May His voice speaks to you as alive as you have never experienced it. May the time you spend with Him, alone in solitude, a time of re-freshness…Don’t bypass loneliness, hospitality, and illusion……

Posted by Miguel Carpizo in his state of brokenness
Escrito por Miguel Carpizo en su estado de quebrantamiento