Religion discussion

My friend and coworker Maria at the centro bought me a beautiful hardcovered planner for my birthday. It's in Spanish, and it's a bible planner. Normally if someone in the states gave me a bible planner, I'd probably be annoyed about it, either because of the assumption that I'm Christian or that I would want to convert to Christianity. In this case I felt differently.

During the Rosh Hashanah celebration that I organized at the centro, we had a discussion about Christianity and Judaism. One of my coworkers noted when I translated the prayers that they were very similar to the prayers that they say, blessing God for the food and shelter that they enjoy. We talked about how Jesus grew up Jewish and that we share the Old Testament.

Maria told me that she knew that I'd like her gift, based on the discussions we've had about religion. She participated with Gustavo in a project with youth in a neighboring barrio based on liberation theology, and what they call the misa campesina. The misa campesina is a collection of songs, readings and practices based on the values of social justice found in the Bible and in the life of Jesus. Maria and Gustavo organized the youth and encouraged them to take and interpret these texts based on their reality, and to use them to make changes in their neighborhood. I told Maria about Tikkun Olam, and how the base values of our religions are so similar. Gustavo jumped in saying that many people think going to church and passively receiving the words of a priest or of God make them the most devout Christians. But he said that people need to take action on these beliefs to really complete the contract with God.

I hope with this planner that I can learn more about how the Bible propounds these values to build bridges between my faith and that of the community in which I'm working and living.