Key Lime Pie and Hot Tamales

June 24, 2012


Before we get started, let me share a few of my observations with you:

1. Every church has one, you know, the lady that makes the best               . You can fill in the blank. Our church had Ms. Barbara and she made the best Key Lime Pie on the planet.
2. When I turned 35, and I assume it was or will be the same for you, my metabolism slowed down very dramatically. As such, I have to work much harder to maintain my svelte figure.
3. The biggest change has been my food intake, and particularly my intake of sweets. I have (or had) a voracious appetite for sweets.

Now for the story, I know you can't wait...

A few years ago (post-35 metabolism slow-down) I came home from a hard day's work with a voracious craving for something sweet. I spotted a large box of Hot Tamales on the kitchen table and in my rush to satisfy my craving, I devoured the whole box. Now in case you were wondering, I searched this site to find the nutritional information on a jumbo box of Hot Tamales. Not there but I assume it is somewhere between 3,000 and 20,000 calories per box. That is about 3 weeks of desert/candy intake for me, all in about 5 minutes.

You may already know this, but I will say it anyway...when one consumes a large box of Hot Tamales, it creates thirst. 

So I open the refrigerator door for some refreshing water and the first thing that I saw was:

Yep, Ms. Barbara's Best-On-The-Planet Key Lime Pie, uncut and waiting to be eaten. I had forgotten that she made it for me the day before and given it to me at church on Wednesday night...in my rush to satisfy the craving, I forgot the real prize.

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The Scriptures talk a lot about life, real life, abundant life and human nature. One of my favorite passages about this idea is from Jeremiah:

"My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me, the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns,

broken cisterns that cannot hold water."

God had rescued them, delivered them, and taught them how to live abundantly. Time and time again they settled for less...

We all make choices that are not always the best...and it's not like we intentionally go about seeking the most mediocre options for our lives, we just tend to settle for what is easy and in front of us.

The challenge for us tomorrow is to pause and ponder - and seek what is best, not settling for instant gratification or what is simply normal. Seek the best (wonder, family, friends, food, grace) life has to offer you.

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To help you ponder your own situation, here is a chart of my Hot Tamales' and Key Lime Pies'

Hot Tamales - sitting on the couch early in the morning, vegging out, watching the news and feeling sorry for myself (not a morning person). The Key Lime Pie option - going for a morning walk in the neighborhood, meeting neighbors and getting valuable exercise.

Hot Tamales - spending too much time reading the news and worrying about the things on the horizon. The Key Lime Pie option - plant and tend a garden that reminds me of the thousands of years old process of light + water + germination = tasty food.

Hot Tamales - spending too much time vegging in front of the TV. The Key Lime Pie option - reading a good book.

Hot Tamales - any activity spent that is not with my family or friends. The Key Lime Pie option - spend time with my family and friends.

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P.S. - Hot Tamales are still my favorite candy (in moderation) and the Key Lime Pie in the story above was eaten!

Lazarus times 8,541

May 2012
Lazarus times 8,541
or, are we nationally destined for a place of torment?

• There have been 8,541 unaccompanied alien children picked up by US Border Patrol since October of 2011.
• I have written about my view of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus before, you can find that here.

God loves people, period. Regardless of socio-economic standing, race, nationality, etc. And scripture is filled with examples of God judging systems and nations. Isaiah, Amos, and Revelation are good places to begin a study on this.

Please read the parable below and change identities as follows - change this text to United States of America, change this text to Central American victims of injustice, systemic corruption, and violence.

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'

But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'"

• Why did the Rich Man end up in the place of torment?
• When are we going to stop policing the Middle/Far East and pay attention to our "gate"?
• How long can we ignore the things that God is interested in and expect God to bless us?

¡Rey de reyes!

May 2012

¡Rey de reyes!
or, Soothed by the Christ Hymn of Colossians 1


First, here are a few things you should know:

• I just finished an intense, 6 month study of the Colossian letter from the New Testament
• I like to solve problems, my mind is wired this way and a good problem that needs solving makes my pulse quicken.
• Several of the Shelter residents had the phrase "¡Rey de reyes! artistically drawn on their school folders. I saw this many times.
• Rey de reyes in English is King of kings; a term applied in the New Testament to Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 6.15, Revelation 17.14, Revelation 19.16)
• This is also a prominent phrase in Handel's Messiah, Hallelujah Chorus (which I've included for your enjoyment at the end of this blog)

The sixteen days at the Shelter was a blessing to me - it expanded my worldview and it was a blessing to serve. The hours were long and the sixteen days straight were a little rough but blessing far outweighed hardship. There were many questions that came to mind during this experience:

• Why have thousands of these boys come up from Central America since October 2011? What would inspire them to endure the difficult journey? What is it that makes their home countries intolerable? 

There are questions that need to be asked and problems that need to be solved:

• How can we (USA, most blessed country in human history) do to help alleviate the severe poverty in these countries? What can we do to stop the gang violence that is destroying these countries? What about the corruption in these governments? Why do US citizens have to consume so many illegal drugs and thus create large illicit enterprises that bring death and destruction to both sides of the border? Why can't we divert some of the billions of dollars that are being used to secure cheap fossil fuel to our hemisphere? Why can't we divert some of the billions of dollars being used to secure Afghani Lithium to our near neighbors? What are we going to do with all of these kids?

There were times when it seems so hopeless, and I suppose we do not have the capacity or desire to solve these difficult problems. But the phrase on the school folders of these boys and the words of the Christ Hymn from Colossians 1 remind of the only real solution:

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for HIM.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the boy, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross."

There...problem solved...I can't wait for that day.

Grupo Guapo

May 13, 2012

Grupo Guapo
or, Hermanos

Instead of being home on Mother's Day (sorry Brenda & Mom), I spent the day as Leader of Group G. This group was the "brother" group...initially 3 sets of brothers and a couple of other guys added to the mix. The brothers - Jonathan & Erick, Kelvin & Cristian, Juan & Angel, the extras were Oseas and Bryan. The next day Juan & Angel were transferred out and Jose joined the group. These guys were awesome and fun - they acted just like any set of brothers I've been around in my life.

Let me explain the nickname I gave them...

At supper time on this unusual Mother's Day we were in the cafeteria waiting for our turn to go through the food line. One of the brothers, Kelvin, in a quite-brotherly-fashion, calls me over and says:

"David, Cristian (hermano) es muy feo."

I responded in Spanish...

"No, no, no!!!"

"Sí, Dah-veed, Cristian es muy feo!"

Then all of the brothers began calling each other ugly. And brothers turned against unrelated group members, it was ugly. : )

I interjected, "¡Cristian es muy guapo!"

The multiple viewings of the Three Amigos has had a positive socio-cultural impact on me...

And then, "¡Todos ustedes son guapo!"

It was at that moment that Group G became Grupo Guapo; it was at that moment that Grupo Guapo stopped the brotherly bickering and developed swag. Though I didn't work with them exclusively, I saw them many times a day over the next week and we developed a very fun relationship.

And I have to tell this story of ingenuity, or brilliance, as it were...one night in the cafeteria Grupo Guapo called me over their table. Kelvin told me to ask Cristian about his afternoon shower. So I did. The showers have levers that are about 6'6" from the floor, there is a chain hanging down for the occupant, or showerer, to pull on to get water flow. Today, Cristian's chain broke and there was no way this 14 year old boy was going to be able to reach the lever. He didn't complain, file a grievance, forego the shower or anything like that - he simply solved the problem. Cristian took his dirty underwear, twisted them up, lassoed the lever with the underwear and commenced his shower as if it was the most logical thing ever. When he finished telling his story, the rest of Grupo Guapo howled with laughter (as did I). Kelvin said,

"¡Cristian es malo!

I thought for a moment and remembered that I love non-whining, low-maintenance problem solvers like Cristian. I tapped my temple with my index finger and replied,

"¡No, Cristian es brillante!"

I would like to say that our time together ended with this kind of banter and playfulness but it didn't. In fact, I will probably cry as I type this out...

May 17th was my last full day at the shelter. At the end of the day I went out to say goodbye to all of my friends and offer them blessing. This was a fairly difficult task. Since Grupo Guapo was my favorite and the most fun, I saved them for last hoping to end on a high note. To their location I go:

"Yo voy a San Antonio de mañana."

Silence...silence broken by Jose,

"¡No se puede ir, Day-bid, no ir!"

"Tengo que"

"¡No se puede ir, no!"

At this point Bryan started sobbing, Jonathan & Erick had tears rolling down their cheeks, Kelvin dropped his head and Jose buried his face in his towel. Cristian is the only one not crying - he stood up and said that he knew he couldn't hug me (government rules) so he gave me a firm, stoic handshake. I was speechless and my eyes were flooded. Bryan stopped crying long enough to tell one of my co-workers that he had never had a friend like me. At this point I could do nothing but mutter a "Dios bendiga" and walked away. These boys are so hungry for love and affirmation and extremely grateful when they receive even a meager amount...I am still processing my emotions from this evening.

p.s. - I saw Grupo Guapo the next morning as I had a little unfinished business at the Shelter, they were passing by, all smiles!

"¡Buenas dias, Dah-veed!"

"Good morning, Day-bid!"

And Cristian, last in line, walks by, taps his index finger on his temple and says,

"¡Brillante!"

Choosing Hell

May 15, 2012

Choosing Hell

First, as best as I could tell, there were only about 5 young men out of the 250+ in the total shelter/dorm population that were interested in choosing hell. Let me explain, but first read this news article:

Gangs Without Borders

Most of these kids had first hand experience with the decimation of their countries caused by these gangs, one of the big reasons for their flight. Nevertheless, there were a few kids that we interested in choosing hell and bringing it with them to this shelter. We had an incident in the cafeteria one day where competing gang symbols were thrown back and forth by a few guys in two different groups.

Props to the staff for recognizing this quickly and taking extraordinary measures to ensure that it didn't escalate. These kids were reminded of what gang violence has done to their homelands. They were reminded of all of the blessings in this blessed place. But you could tell by observing the offenders, they were more interested in choosing hell.

To quote C.S. Lewis in "The Great Divorce" - "the doors of hell are locked from the inside..."

¡Muy frío, Dah-veed!

Everyday at the shelter, 2012

¡Muy frío, Dah-veed!
or, David, it is freezing in this place, do something about it or let us go outside where it is tolerable
or, in our abundance we have become a tad spoiled...


During the day the temperature inside the shelter (gymnasium) hovered around eighty degrees, not bad compared to the scalding hot temps outside in deep south Texas. It was easy to tell the difference between kids from Central America and the people from North America (besides the obvious age difference). Inside the gym every day, the Central America kids would be freezing - their arms tucked inside of their t-shirts trying to maintain body temp. The North Americans would be walking around fanning themselves with clipboards, papers, books - whatever was available in effort to keep from spontaneously combusting.

Another difference was in the cafeteria...the NA's would pick around on the food tray eating half or less of the food on the tray, then throwing the rest in the trash can. Conversely, the CA's would devour everything on their tray - the coleslaw, the broccoli, the green beans, the mystery meat - everything. One kid even asked why we threw so much away. I told him what I tell everyone else:

"Dude, you gotta go check out this documentary on Netflix!"

(I didn't really say that, probably said something like, ¿Quién sabe? But since we are on the subject, you should go check out this documentary.)

Difícil

May 11, 2012

Difícil
or, letting others down

My friend Luis, whom I first met in Clinical Observation and became one of my favorite friends, was always happy, always smiling, and always ready to practice his English. Did I mention that in the face he looks a lot like Tiger Woods? Look at the image on the right, take off the golf hat, imagine Tiger wearing a blue t-shirt and you have Luis.

And when I saw him sitting in phone call room hunched over and sobbing, I knew of nothing else to do but sit with him while he cried. My co-worker Paula encouraged me to stay with him.

When he noticed that I was beside him he straightened up, dabbed his eyes and tried to pretend that he had not been crying.

"¿Está bien, Luis?"

"Lo siento, es difícil."

Luis went on to tell me that he had left his home in Honduras, bound for the United States in order to work and send money back to his dad, mom and family. This family's hope was pinned on this 17 year old boy. Luis felt as though he had failed them - he didn't make it to the "land flowing with milk and honey," instead he was caught and placed in this shelter.

"No, no Luis, lo siento."

I'm sorry that we live in world that allows gang violence to decimate your country. I'm sorry that we live in a world of such abundance that we have heated car seats and macaroni & cheese pizza, yet right at our gates are people that live in unimaginable poverty. I'm sorry that corruption rules the Americas. I'm sorry that you didn't somehow make it to my doorstep because we would have figured something out...

Feliz Cumpleaños Felix...

May 10, 2012

Feliz Cumpleaños Felix
or, What a Difference a Day Makes

On May 9, 2012 Felix was hanging out in this blessed place with his peers. He had been in this place for a few weeks - plenty of food, clean clothes, controlled climate, school, and a large group of people to help take care of him.

On May 10, 2012 Felix turned 18 years old. Happy birthday Felix! And in the eyes of the US government, he turned into an adult offender, a violator of our immigration laws. As such, he had to be separated from the minors (for their safety) and turned over to an adult immigration prison. He had to be isolated from the rest of the group at the Emergency Shelter until his transport arrived. I was called upon to sit with him in isolation. And that's what we did for the next eight hours. We shared a couple of meals, we didn't talk, he fidgeted on his cot, he sat up and prayed often.

Finally, about 5:30pm and thirty minutes from his transport time, his tongue broke loose...he told me about his family in Guatemala - his dad, his mom, his three younger sisters. He told me about the mountains of Guatemala and about the Resplendent Quetzal, the national bird. He told me about the freight train ride from Guatemala to the Texas border. He told about the two guys that died on that trip - one didn't get low enough going through a tunnel and the other fell off the top of the train and was sucked under. He told me about how he was coming to the Estados Unidos to work so he could send money back to his family.

After hearing his story, I told him that he was very brave and very strong and that I was honored to know him. He replied:

"El evangelio es mi confianza."

My Spanish is fairly weak so I had to confirm what I had heard - "Felix, por favor, repita."

"El evangelio es mi confianza."

"Otra vez..."

"El evangelio es mi confianza."

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At 6:00pm the transport arrives. Felix and I say our goodbyes.

"Dios bendiga, Felix."

"Gracias, adios."

And he was led away in shackles and handcuffs...

Soy un aventurero

May 9, 2012

Yo Soy Aventurero
or, adventurers

Josh, Nic and I on top of Mount Shavano, Colorado

On this day at the Shelter I wore my hiking boots because they are comfortable. My pants of the day were a pair of khaki cargo pants that I sometimes wear when walking in the mountains. If you look closely at this photo from the top of Mount Shavano in Colorado, you will notice that I am wearing pants (to which you say "thank you"), the same pants I wore today.

My friend, Erick from Salvador asked if I was an adventurer. I thought for a moment...I have tagged the summits of a fair number of 14ers and a few 13ers in Colorado; I have been on a fair number of back country camping trips; I have rock climbed; I have rappelled; I have been free-diving in the Caribbean; I have been white water rafting; I have ridden (stupidly) an inner-tube down the swollen Animas River in Silverton, CO; and have been on many adventures.

"Si, Erick, soy un aventurero!"

The more I thought about it the more I realized that most of my adventures were very predictable, with safety assured. Except for some of the mountain trips, the (stupid) inner-tube trip down the Animas, and the free-diving in the Caribbean, all of my adventures were more like theme park rides - very little risk and a brief adrenaline rush.

Then I thought about 17 year old Erick's trip from El Salvador to the Emergency Shelter in Harlingen, Texas...

mountains of Guatemala

Here is some detail I found online about this trip:

There are two ways to travel to the United States: by coyote, or on your own if you know the path.  It takes between two to three weeks either way--hopping a train through Mexico and then walking through the desert without sleep and avoiding border guards for two - seven days until one reaches a safe house.  

Coyotes are guides who are paid to take groups of people from Central/Latin America to the United States.  The current going rate for a coyote is $7000/person from El Salvador to Mexico, and between $7000-$8000 from Mexico to a major city in the United States.  When considering these numbers, please remember that those who work on the coffee fincas in El Salvador are paid $50 every two weeks during the coffee picking season.  For the rest of the year, they are often out of work and must support their families of between 4-6 people with that money which they make over these few months in the year.  Thus, the payment of $15,000 for the chance alone to get to the United States is an incredible amount.  This $15,000 does not in any way guarantee travel to the US--it only guarantees three chances to attempt to make the journey with a coyote.  As one man said though, by the time one makes it to the third chance, s/he is either in prison or dead.

The danger of traveling with a coyote cannot be underestimated.  One must remember that because this is inherently an illegal venture, there is nothing to which the coyotes can be held accountable for the wellbeing of the people in their group, other than their reputation.  They typically transport drugs, and they hold absolute power over their group without necessarily having a reason to ensure that they all make it to the United States alive.  Women in these groups are often raped, young children die, and people who just were not well prepared for the journey are often left in the desert.  This inequality of power means that those immigrants who collect $15,000 from their family and friends to make the journey and pin all of their hope on this one person are an incredibly vulnerable population with almost no way to hold the coyote accountable.  The journey is even more dangerous for women.  

Whether traveling with or without a coyote, one must avoid the Mexican police, the drug cartels, and navigate the desert.  Since crossing the border is quite difficult, immigrants often walk across the desert for several days straight until they reach a major city where they can usually obtain assistance.

No ropes, no belay, no life-vests, no experienced AND trustworthy guides, no water, no food, no credit cards, little money, and immeasurable amounts of courage...

"Erick, usted es verdadero aventurero..."