Here in Bolivia we don't celebrate fall festivals (since we're entering our summer season) or Halloween. But there are a few days here like the day of the dead and the day of the saints that are around the time of Halloween. The idea is that Bolivians celebrate the lives' of their deceased loved ones by visiting their graves. But it doesn't stop there. Food is carried to the graves and laid upon the ground near the headstone or marker, and left for the deceased loved one to come and eat. In the home a huge, and I do mean huge, meal is prepared in hopes that the souls or spirits of their loved ones' will return and partake.
Sonia and I got a good laugh the other day as she recounted a story of Nelson (her boyfriend) as a child. His grandmother had prepared the traditional feast for their deceased loved ones and left served plates at chairs around the table. Enter Nelson and his cousin. The two young boys are hungry and seeing the plate set with food decide it's time to eat :) A bite becomes a portion and a portion becomes a plate full and before you know it empty plates now sit where once full servings stood. Reenter grandmother. Nelson's grandmother is now under the impression that her departed loved ones have actually returned to this earth, somehow eaten the food she prepared and were pleased. Nelson and his cousin to this day have not told his grandmother of their feast. And she continues to think that this particular year, the food she prepared was pleasing to their relatives and that they ate and were satisfied :) As you encounter pagan rituals in culture and as you confront them and what they stand for... occasionally it helps to laugh at the darkness, reminding yourself that God is so much greater, so much wiser and everything else in comparison is simply silliness.
(Not that I treat the rituals of Bolivians as silliness, wow that would put up some walls fast... it's just that as we talk in our home among ourselves sometimes the things done here seem silly to us. It's always important though to remember that many of the things that we as Americans do seem silly to Bolivians. In remembering that you lose that sense of superiority and are reminded that we are all simply God's children and we have all taken on things of this world (whether good or bad) that to God must seem simply silly... can you think of any?)
Such a great story -- I love that it has remained a secret to this day. How many times has my belief system been reinforced because of something like this instead of the reality of the situation?
ReplyDeleteI think that the Bolivians and Peruvians think we are pretty silly when our focus at Christmas is more on getting and not on giving or thinking about the one who gave.
ReplyDeleteThey don't know Santa Claus very well here in Arequipa like we do in the states.
The thought that remembering that Bolivians find some of my traditions silly takes away a sense of superiority is so good. I have been thinking about this a bunch lately. As a missionary I have not come to bring a new culture in the sense that the Bolivians must adopt my traditions as a United States citizen. Rather I have come to teach what life is in the Kingdom of God and help them to adopt God's pattern of living which is essentially love. To answer your question I believe that God thinks it is silly when we put tradition above people and choose to enforce rules rather than focus on relationship. These are great thoughts Laura.
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