The Legends of the Virgins

T

his was an important holiday week in Mexico. December 8^th is the feast day or holy day (day of special honor for a saint for all of you non-Catholics out there) for the Virgin Juquila. “She” is a statue believed to have miraculous powers. There are different versions of the legend about her origins. She is mostly a regional icon here. People are known to crawl for miles on a dirt road as they approach her to make their promises and requests.

Today, December 12^th, is the big day honoring the national patroness, the Virgin Guadalupe. She also holds a very high Catholic-religious significance. Legend says that she appeared one day in 1531 to an indigenous peasant near Mexico City. She instructed him to build a church on the spot in her honor. When he told the bishop, the bishop required proof. When the peasant returned with the requested “proof,” an image of her was miraculously produced on a piece of cloth. Today, the image is in the most visited Catholic shrine in the world. The image is worshipped and many miracles are attributed to it.

Celebrations are held throughout Mexico. Our town is filled with people celebrating with parades, music, fireworks (which are launched from right within the crowd) and all sorts of other festive activities. Some say that it is a bigger celebration than Christmas. We’ll see.

Last night, I was privileged to share a message with the congregation at Pastor Salomón’s church out of the book of Judges chapters 6 and 7. I spoke about God’s commission to us and His power and ability to fulfill the mission through us in spite of our inabilities and fears. I was a little surprised that when I referred to Gideon’s fleece test in the story that many, if not most of the people had no idea what it was. Aurturo, my faithful translator, had to relate the account to them. I hadn’t made the telling of it a formal part of the message. I assumed it would be familiar. Wrong assumption! More Bible teaching is needed!

It is no wonder that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are so successful when they speak authoritatively about what (their interpretation) the Bible says. JW doctrines play very well into many of the cultural religious beliefs here. If people have little or no knowledge of what the Bible says, they will easily be misled. No longer will I assume that even commonly familiar stories are known. I strongly suspect that not very many people here actually read their Bibles. Part of the reason is education or lack of it. A big part of the reason is that the accepted Bible translation is the Reina Valera which can be a bit difficult to understand. I am reluctant to accept that a part of the problem might actually be a lack of teaching. We have been introducing people to a Spanish version of the New Living Translation which is much easier to understand.

I was invited to make a 10-day missions trip to minister in the mountains next week. I would have really loved to go. I was compelled to decline. I have had to face the reality that my body is getting older. I turned 61 this week. I am no longer up the rigor of walking uphill for several hours. It is beyond my ability. A man’s got to know his limitations. I can walk all day on the flat. Steep uphills are a different matter altogether. I have to rest and catch my breath at least once during the short climb (1/2 mile) up when I go to Monte de Dios. Besides, it would have meant leaving Donna alone. That is something I was not willing to do.

As the Christmas holiday approaches, we are expecting to have to deal with a whole lot more downtime as people get busy with their preparations and festivities. Although the intensity of activity does not even approach what you are experiencing, there are still a lot of distractions. Even so, we don’t feel at all like it is Christmas time. Perhaps the weather, which continues to be nice is part of the reason.