Our morning devotion was on the Scripture Mark 10: 17-27. This is a difficult passage for many of us to grasp. Jesus is approached by a rich young man who wants to achieve eternal life. He tells Jesus that he has dutifully obeyed all of the law and Jesus tells him he lacks one thing. Sell everything you have and give the money to the poor and come and follow me. If you take Jesus at his word this means that all of our material possessions are meaningless and our attachment to them is the major stumbling block. Major in the seance that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than enter the kingdom of God. I think we all try to rationalize this passage but when you are living in Guatemala among these people who have so little you realize that you and I are among the most wealthy in the world. We are the rich and the passage bears a heavy burden on us. Just as the rich young man, whom Jesus loved walked away with a heavy heart I will return to the United States with a heavy heart. Yes I believe my being here has made a difference and will help these people but how much has it really done for me spiritually? I am sympathetic to their plight. I really can do little to change it but what can I do for myself. How, much will it really change my life? I don't know the answer?
We had a great breakfast; scrambled eggs, some sort of yucca cake, and a slice of a special white cheese. We always have Guatemala tortillas which are smaller and thicker than the Mexican verity. Lunch was again brought out to us in the field. It was a pasta dish with chicken and some mild chillies and other bits of local vegetable. We also had a special white milk like drink that is popular in Mexico called orchaka. It's slightly sweet and I liked it. For dinner this evening we had Guatemala style chile rellenos a yellow colored rice dish and a persimmon juice drink
Today was another day of intensive labor. This is probably more typical of the foundation work than the work others will be doing in later trips. We told them that those attending the following trips will be younger and that they had designated that all of the early hard work be done by us seniors. We finished erecting and placing the footings for all 15 columns. After lunch began erecting the smaller columns which will support the windows and door jambs. We did not encounter rain until we started home at which time we covered ourselves with our ponchos or rain gear and eventually pulled a tarpaulin over the top to cover us. When we reached the San Lucas the rain suddenly stopped and we noticed the streets were dry. It must have been a very localized rain shower.
Tomorrow we will take our lake trip and visiting three of the communities surrounding the lake. We are hoping that it does not rain but it appears there is at least a thirty percent chance. That is the same prediction we have been hearing all week. I think it really means that it will only rain thirty percent of the day.
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