It's okay, you can roll your eyes

In order to protect the people I meet I will not name names or places. All names of people and places will be fictional.

 So I am going to be a little corny and cliche in this post. Today we went and visited several families from the Presbyterian church here in Frankford. I had such a nice day, drinking all types of yummy fruit drinks and sitting around chatting. Yesterday we visited families from the children's project and I felt slightly uncomfortable and intrusive. Everyone was very kind and welcoming but I still felt a slight hesitancy from the families. Today we were warmly welcomed and I could tell everyone was genuinely happy to have us there and s large part of that is because we arrived as brothers and sisters in Christ. I told you this would be corny and cliche. But I am giving into and embracing this feeling because usually I scorn these types of emotions. If you are rolling your eyes at me I understand. Go ahead, I would. I felt so comfortable and natural in their homes. We started with the usual, how do you like Colombia, and, how are you dealing with the heat? Then we talked about a variety of things, from the weather in the US, to holidays, health care, children, and displacement. Some of our conversations were more engaging than others but all were honest.

 I had many thoughtful conversations in Guatemala and the difference in how open and honest people are seems to come from a religious place. Both in Guatemala and here, when people feel like you share a God, share a religion, most other boundaries come down. We are just brothers and sisters. Honestly, while this is not the first time I have had this feeling, it is the first time I have recognized and embraced this common thread. People that gush about their faith make me uncomfortable. This is for many reasons but one is that I feel like they are saying what they think they should be saying, or not being critical of situations.  But today I am that person who feels like I encountered God today simply by being with other Christians and sharing a cold beverage. I did not provide anyone with an insightful story nor was I particularly amusing. But I was simply there and my visit did brighten several people's days, as they brightened mine.  When I am in Latin America I seem to be able to let a lot of my prejudices about myself go and hope I can bring that openness back with me to the US.