Semana Santa

Well, Semana Santa is officially over! Holy Week...there isn't really a lot that is holy in the way the majority of people here celebrate Holy Week. It consists of multiple processions with floats of idols, carpets of coloured sawdust and flowers, and depressing music - all to celebrate

the death of Christ - not His resurrection! It also consists of parties -lots of parties and lots of drinking! It can actually be a bit dangerous here during Holy Week, as there are drunk people everywhere, even during the day. Holy Week is also a very busy week for witchcraft and worship at indigenous sites - caves and high places. Some of the traditions the local people perform are so deeply entrenched in who they are as a people, they don't even really think about what they are doing. They believe the gods - they are polytheistic - are all running around in chaos causing trouble and only the witch doctor is able to bring them under control and appease their desires. This is the people group that we, through Impact Ministries, serve here in Tactic, Guatemala. The message of the Gospel is in direct conflict with their belief system. They are taught you have to work hard to appease the gods and if something is not going well in your life, then one of the gods is angry with you or you didn't perform the necessary rituals to maintain peace in your life. Salvation, something we can never earn or deserve, given to us a free gift, is a completely foreign concept.

I was out in my garden the other day and saw that my calla lillie was blossoming! For me, it was a symbol of the life - new life - that we have in Christ. Although on our own, the scriptures tell us, our righteous acts are nothing better than filthy rags, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are cleansed and purified. We are washed clean, just like the pure white petal on the lillie in my garden. To be honest, I have a hard time truly comprehending that. To grasp the depth of the Father's love for me is tough. That He would send His only Son for me...it is overwhelming. That He sees me as His precious daughter, without spot or blemish, like my beautiful, perfect lillie. WOW!

In church on Sunday, we celebrated! Unlike the those lost in Catholicism and Mayan beliefs, who are weighed down, bound and oppressed, we rejoiced and celebrated the victory we have in Christ. We jumped, clapped and shouted - Jesus lives! And because He lives, we, too, live.

Happy belated Easter. I pray we will all learn more fully how to live in the victory Christ purchased for us on the cross.