Mexico Missions Trip

I just got back from our college/high school missions trip. After four days of working on a house together, everyone on our team is covered in several layers of dirt, grime, and sweat, only abated by the occasional bucket shower. To show for it, we have a 98% completed two room house in a small lot in Mexico.

I’ve also had the pleasure of working with one of the greatest Canadians I’ve ever met. Our representative from Amor Ministries, Bruce, was an absolute joy to work with. His constant heckling of us all, but especially the high schoolers, his great work ethic, and his easygoing manner made working on the house a joy. 

I think that we would normally surmise that the highlight for the trip would be handing the keys over to the new owner, or seeing the house fully completed, or perhaps taking a warm shower after four days of sweating in the Mexican heat.

But when I look back, my highlights are more related to the people, to our community, more related to our journey, and our ascent. The way we worked together. The way we cared for one another, especially when one of our own was sick. The way that we saw to one another’s needs. The way we’d get ticked at each other, but then quickly brush it off. So it wasn’t that handing over keys, or seeing the house finished wasn’t great, but the greatest thrill for me, is seeing that house, and seeing a physical manifestation of our community at work.

I’m eager to see what else our community can do when we band together towards higher purposes.

Words (or lack thereof)

Speaking is a powerful ability. In particular, speaking well, in a democratic society, is a valuable gift. Everyday we use words to communicate, persuade, connect with others. Being able to speak binds us together, or tears us apart. One who is able to speak well can reveal who they are inside, or pretend to be someone they aren’t.

I just finished a book called “The Way of the Heart” by Henri Nouwen. This modest composition of literature reveals the wisdom of the desert fathers, the original monks. Nouwen demonstrates the principles of the lifestyle that they lead, and shows us what we can learn from it in return. He suggests that there is a better way through the maelstrom of daily life, particularly in the world of christian ministry, through a lifestyle made more complete with a new definition of Silence, Solitude, and Prayer.

I had a hard time with what this book was attempting to grasp, as it suggests a lifestyle filled with less, so to speak. The Desert Fathers were extremely disciplined in the way that they sought silence, solitude, and prayer, devoting themselves fully to encountering God. The result of their discipline is clear from anecdotes of many travelers interacting with these desert fathers. Something changed within these people from their deep experiences in silence.

So in a society where words are highly valued, we seem to sometimes be seeking to say and hear as much as possible. We crave input, we’re ravenous in our hunger for it, and now in this day and age more than ever. We’re surrounded by walls of sound, and it is the subtle things, the beautiful things, that get drowned out in all the harsh whitewater noise.

I want to swim to the surface, and breath in fresh air. I want to be hungry for that sort of experience.

And as I’m writing an entire album worth of lyrics, lyrics I hope have profound meaning for people who will soon listen to our work, I want to rediscover the power of words.