Within 24 hours: earthquake, a dog sheds tears of blood, and....band practice

     I've never felt the earth move under my feet... until today.  I was sitting at my desk sending out some emails when i noticed the fan on the floor to my left was beginning  to casually walk across the room. This spectacle integrated itself with some semi-incoherent screaming in which i was able to make out the word "earthquake!"  The next situation which dominated my awareness was that my feet and legs gave the same illusion and sensation as if i were surfing, only sitting down. The soundtrack to my first earthquake was that of a very low and dull frequency that could have been the earth, the building, or just something completely made up in my own head, i'm really not all too sure.  Quickly my mind raced back through it's archives of old movies I'd seen depicting earthquakes, instructional safety tapes i'd seen in school, and random things i'd overheard or been told to do in this very event, but before I could take action it was over.  Not only was it over, it had been really small.  There was no damage, no power outages, and I don't even think Hunter got out of bed to investigate.  But it was surely an interesting experience and from what I'm told a little taste of what's to come.

      This is Chris (the director at Hogar de la Roca) and one of his dogs named Perla.  Perla has a condition referred to as cherry eye and it is apparently common in her breed.  when I met Perla her left eye was almost completely covered by large inflamed red bubble.  From what Chris tells me it seems her tear ducts got infected, and swelled out of her face and made her almost blind in one eye.  Chris took her in for surgery and when we brought her home he administered the post operation eye drops.

     Needless to say it didn't go so well.  I t was clear as soon as Chris administered the drops that they were burning her eyes.  Shortly after came the blood.... a lot of blood.  The pictures you are seeing are only from the aftermath.  I was too busy helping Chris comfort his dog and contain the blood to even think about pictures in the moment.
     From what the vet told us the dog must have opened a stitch on her tear duct and then when Chris administered the eye drops it created a reaction that caused Perla to in essence cry tears of blood.

     Time and time again Chris would get the bleeding to stop by applying pressure, but because Perla's eyes hurt so much she was always pawing at them and re-opening the wound. We spoke about the possibility of finding a vet but 24 hour emergency animal hospitals at a reasonable price is a lot to ask in Guatemala. i knew we needed a dog-cone so Chris got some cardboard and staples and improvised.  To his credit the cone came out great, but despite his best efforts that cone was the LAST thing Perla felt like dealing with after her surgery and recent ordeals.  She tore it off of herself in seconds.
     Just when we had done everything we could and the situation was looking pretty desperate her eye just stopped bleeding.  She looked exhausted so we allowed her in the cage with her puppies (Perla is a mom) and she slept like a rock.  When we checked on her this morning the incision in her eye hadn't reopened, even with the four little puppies and their sharp little claws moshing all around her in their crate. 

     Every third Sunday of the month we open our home and hold a church service in which we invite the  community.  The other ministries we are affiliated with in Guatemala, friends and families of the students, and local people from the neighborhood are all encouraged to come and participate.

     Danny (left) is a kind-hearted local music student and faithful volunteer at the program.  He is also an  incredibly talented musician.  The three of us will be the worship group at the church service and today we had our one and only rehearsal.  With songs like "Todo Poderoso", "Maravilloso", and " Cantara de tu Amor" on the set list i had a definite crash course into Guatemalan praise and worship music.

    

     

      I was speaking with one of the students in the house after the earthquake and he was telling me that many people who live in Guatemala do so in a sort of strained state and underlying  fear of impending natural disasters.  It's warranted due to this country's history and capacity for disaster.  From the roof-top of our home I can see at least one if not two large and active volcanoes close by.  You may wonder if they ever erupt?  To answer that question, i'll tell you that the guys and myself spent part of the daily chore time just this morning cleaning mounds of black volcanic ash that are all over our street from a recent eruption.  We cleaned it up because we like the front of the house to look nice, but also because it's slippery!  i wiped out HARD like four times in my first basketball game with the guys.  I mean, my team still won but I got kinda banged up and embaressed ya know?.  Also the Capital of Guatemala used to be Antigua (which is a beautiful city), but some time ago a massive earthquake devastated it so severely that the capital was moved to Guatemala City.

     Luke 21:  10-11  "But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately...Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will fearful sights and great signs from heaven."

     Apparently these are conditions we are all subject too, even if it makes us uncomfortable.  The bible is a book of hope for people who choose to adopt it.  Even so, the text above was written about two thousand years ago and it predicts a lot of pretty devastating and horrifying things that 

"must come to pass"  and are materializing right before our eyes.  And yet the scripture opens with the phrase, "do not be terrified."  What is the answer to not being terrified in the face of all this potential and eminent disaster?

     Hope:  is a great place to start. 

Romans 8:18-25 (excerpts) "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us...For we know that the whole creation groans and labors in the pains of child-birth right up to the present time. For creation was subjected to frustration, not by it's own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from it's bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God"...

  - this image of nature groaning vividly conjures up my experience in the earthquake.  Nature, the earth itself, is "conscious" of the desperate state it finds itself in.  Mother Earth knows she's been mistreated, polluted and raped of her resources.  Moreover, I believe nature is somehow a conscious witness to all the horrible things we sometimes do to each other and ourselves, and further, that an earthquake is an outward expression of its frustration and restlessness. Due to these things, all creation has fallen from the perfect state in which God created it and therefore can't fulfill it's purpose . It waits in eager expectation to be liberated and transformed.

     "(text continued)...Not only so, but we ourselves groan inwardly as we eagerly await the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved.  but hope that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we eagerly await it with patient perseverance."

       We are all going to face difficult circumstances, "they must come to pass." And we aren't always going to deal with them well or like the outcome of the events.  But we can actively find a personal way of beginning to replace fear with hope. It is easy to live in fear and discouragement if we only focus on what our eyes see.  We know that sorrow, sickness, and disaster in one form or another lies

 before us.  And we also know that all our paths eventually lead to death.  Contrastly, in light of all this darkenss there are so many beautiful things to enjoy and experience right here and now, and with all my heart i encourae you to do them.  And not only to do them, but be acutley present and wonderfully alive in all those tremendous settings and situations you are sure to find yourself in this beautiful creation called Earth. But with regard to the end of the road, i gently urge you to take that same free spirit one step further.  Allow yourself, if just for a moment, to dream of a life that continues even after you close your eyes. Where even after your last breath you will awaken again....somewhere...with nothing to fear.  Just let your mind go....... and hope.