One Faith. In all, through all, above all.
You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
Who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
Will say to the Lord My refuge and my fortress
My God in whom I trust.
Psalm 91:1-2
Each day, Andy and Susie climb the steps to Maria’s home, excitedly push open the door, take off their shoes, hang up their coats and run into the open arms of Maria kneeling on the floor to greet them. Maria wraps them in a warm embrace, smothers them with kisses and laughingly greets them with Spanish words of affection and care.
Maria, an immigrant from Mexico, provides child care in her home with a generous, kind and loving heart integrated with the traditions of her homeland. Andy and Susie are learning to love rice and beans as comfort food, to speak Spanish as a second language and trust the goodness of another culture.
Like all children, Andy and Susie experience the typical bumps and bruises from falling down, bumping their heads or scraping their knees. When they seek the attentive care of Maria, instead of asking for a kiss and a band-aid, they go to her begging to hear a special song.
Maria, care-fully places the child onto her lap, gently rubs the hurt and sings in a soothing voice:
Sana, sana, colita de rana
Si no sana hoy, sanara manana.
Meaning: Heal, heal, tail of a frog
If you aren’t healed today, you’ll be healed tomorrow.
This silly, simple rhyming song quickly brings calm. The children wipe their tear stained cheeks and are soon on their way to yet another adventure.
Andy and Susie learn to trust the presence of grace embodied in the loving hands and voice of another as their faith in love grows.
Breathprayer:
Breathing in: God’s faithfulness…
Breathing out:…abides in love.
Reflection: Children learn to trust love through the actions of another. As a child, who taught you to trust love and grow in faith?
Lenten Reflection for Friday, March 29, 2019. This is written for the Daily Online devotion of the Southeast Iowa Synod of the evangelical Lutheran Church in American.
www.seiasynod.org/lent