Doug continues, Part 4

Pilgrimage to San Luis, Peten, Guatemala, Part 4

Our “Kids” Lead a Stone Carving Workshop

The “kids”—Chris, Emilia and Pia—had been told that they could offer their stone carving workshop for the “patojas” during their afternoon time for crafts. To our surprise, we were told that 21 of the 30 young women planned to attend. But there were only eight stone tool cutting kits that we had brought with us from the States. Chris and I took a quick walk down to the market of San Luis to find and buy extra stone chisels or more hammers. The very small hardware stores had no chisels and we found only five hammers of appropriate weight. I tried to use my Visa card to buy the hammers, but they didn’t accept charge cards. And, still not having exchanged any dollars for the local currency (called Quetzales), I asked if I could pay with dollars. The answer was no. So, we left the store to see if the bank was open, and it was not. After that, there was no more time to look for tools before the workshop.

There was also a crisis of materials for the workshop We needed stones for carving, lots of stones given the anticipated turnout. But the rocks on the road beside the center were too hard, obviously not the local limestone, which is perfect for carving. And, we needed bags filled with sand or dirt into cushion the rocks when they are carved by chiseling, rasping and sanding. Chris confided me his worry that the whole workshop would be a bust. For my part, I was concerned not to turn the workshop into a burden for the Sisters or a disruption. Finally, I shared our difficulties with Sister Gladys and she said the bags and sand were no problem because they already have sand and empty feed bags of the concentrate, and she said she would see if she could locate some softer stone.

While there were still only eight carving kits, all the raw materials appeared just in time for the start of the workshop. We hoped that not everyone who said they wanted to participate would actually do so, and if too many came, some might get bored and leave. But we were wrong on both counts. Everyone did come, and they stayed. In fact, more came to the outdoor table area where they were working, including even the Anna the veterinarian and eventually Andrea, the volunteer from Mexico. And the two hour workshop extended all the way to the evening. Emilia did the translating for Chris, and both went from “patoja” to “patoja” giving pointers and encouragement. My daughter, Pia, decided to carve an arrowhead for a necklace, and she also runs support errands for Emilia and Chris. When my wife and I stopped by to see how things were going, we say that the “patojas” were carving flowers, birds, crosses and whole scenes in bas relief. Everyone one was working intently and chatting amiably.

In the evening, Emilia exclaimed that she felt that she had witnessed a multiplication miracle like with the loaves and fishes. She said she did not know how all the girls had the tool they needed. When they cleaned up there were additional chisels. Emilia wondered if the girls somehow already had the chisels of their own. My own skeptical speculation is that the girls in the boarding school have learned share easily, and the kids may have missed pockets in the stone carving kits, making it seem that there were additional tools. That’s me, always doubting! After His resurrection and multiple appearances to the apostles, the gospel reports that after Jesus ascended into heaven in front of the eyes of His apostles and many other disciples, there were some who still doubted. Only the Holy Spirit, a gift from God, confers faith on those whose hearts are open and then only at the time of God’s choice, which is why faith can never really be forced on another person.

Chris, too, was impressed, but in a different way. Chris has taught art classes, including one just before the trip at his alma mater, the Delaware Valley Friends School. He said that he had never seen such motivated students. His experience is that the greatest challenge he found in teaching kids in the US was motivating them and getting them to follow through, but the “patojas” were highly motivated, and they learned quickly and developed their own solutions, solutions that worked. Later, the sisters said that in their experience the young, Mayan women have artistic talent and skill in many crafts. Stone carving, however, is something not traditionally done by the Q’ekchi. I thought, though, learning to carve stone is recapturing an ancient Mayan art. Certainly, the pyramids and stelae of the many ancient Mayan ruins were carved in limestone.

The stone carving workshop was to continue day after day during our brief stay, with the women perfecting polishing their carvings. At the end, they wanted to paint their stones and we were looking to buy acrylic paints. After a few days, Chris confided that the best part was that as they continue to work with the young women, they got to know them as persons, learning their names. As I walked through the compounds, the “patojas” became friendlier and friendlier, waving to me with broad smiles, and sometimes asking for Emilia. The “kids” began taking their meals regularly with the “patojas” while Pia and I tended to follow a different schedule, praying the Divine Office with the Sisters in the chapel and sharing meals with them. I thought it ironic that the “kids” were the ones who were really offering a concrete and human connection to the “patojas” while our fellowship was with the Sisters. God is glorified through both believers and non-believers, and everyone plays their role, conscious or unconscious, in bringing about His Kingdom.

I talked to Sister Gladys about her native Cuba. She had asked me if I had ever traveled to Cuba and I said no, but I had always wanted to. She says that she returns to Cuba to visit her nieces that still live there. There is also an Assumption Convent in Cuba. She tells me that despite all the years of Fidel, the convent is vibrant and growing. In fact, two lay people have just taken formal vows to become 3rd order members of the Assumption Order and have received the same distinctive cross that the nuns wear. She said the Catholic Church is growing in Cuba had has many pious, young people flocking to a vibrant Catholic Church. Persecution, it seems, always brings out the best in Christians.

I asked Sister Gladys about the faith of her nieces personally. She pauses, and then says they are good, and they have a “secret faith”. Perhaps this is true of many of our youth in the United States, including Chris and Emilia. In spite of what they may say or do at a particular moment in their lives, but they are essentially good and have a dormant, secret faith waiting to be awakened when God is ready. I am writing this on the Feast Day of St. Monica, the mother who prayed for years for her son to return to the Catholic faith, and when he finally did (after years of self-indulgence and experimentation with “New Age” type beliefs) he became one of the greatest saints and most inspiring minds of the Catholic Church, namely, St. Augustine. The Sisters of the Assumption, in fact, are Augustinians.