AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ON THE PATH TO HOPE Upon Sembrandopaz - TopicsExpress



          

AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ON THE PATH TO HOPE Upon Sembrandopaz receiving the World Vision International Peace Prize Sincelejo, September 20, 2014. By Ricardo Esquivia Ballestas. First, a story: It was said that there was once a man who was being chased by some bandits who wanted to kill him. Desperate, he entered into an area of caves and hid in one. Full of anguish, he began to ask God to protect him, to send him some angels. There suddenly appeared in the entrance to the cave a small spider that began to spin a web. The man, full of fear and anguish, told God that he didn’t want a spider; he needed a wall to block the entrance to the cave. All the while, the spider continued spinning her web. The bandits entered the first cave and he could already hear their steps. Just then the spider completed her web which covered the entrance to the cave. He then heard one of the men say to another: ’Let’s go in this cave. He must be in there.’ The other man answered:’ No, he’s not in there. Can’t you see that there’s a spider web in the entrance? No one’s been in there for a long time.’ And they left. God has many ways of responding to the suffering and anguish of our people and it is not always as we think or expect. In this little story, the man asks for protection and it seems to him that this would happen in a spectacular way, as a miracle of angels or the appearance of a great wall. But God gave him it in the form of a little spider whose weak spider web confounded the bandits. That’s why the phrase that says, ‘If you ask God for a tree, he will give it to you in the form of a seed’ is so beautiful to me. And it has been in the form of seeds that God has been responding to the valiant and suffering people of Montes de Maria. Seeds that become the ‘Trees of Justice’ that are spoken of in Isaiah 61:3. When Jesus begins his ministry, according to the gospels of Mark, it begins with a passage taken from this chapter 61 of Isaiah. ‘The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. .. to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of justice, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. And these seeds are there in the communities, growing and carrying hope in the little acts of justice, using education, trust, non-violence, strengthening their roots, their branches, and growing like true trees of justice. We, as Sembrandopaz, accompany them and are like oil that helps them grease their movements, their actions, and we do it trusting that each seed has within it the secret of how to become a tree. We receive this award, that is so generously being given to us today by World Vision International, with humility in name of our team at Sembrandopaz and the communities with which we form part of this growing process, and take it as in external indicator that tells us ‘this is the way, go forward.’ Thank you! Symbolic acts such as these are like nourishment given to us when we are weary or life-giving water that helps us free that germinating power in these seeds of hope, justice and peace. For this reason, we consider the World Vision prize as an acknowledgement on the path to hope. Thank you!
Posted on: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 21:13:47 +0000

Trending Topics



into a hardware shop in river road and
Under the radar from the prying eyes of the public, South Carolina
I know Im going out on a limb here (according to some, anyway),
I was remembering today that Jessie and I had to take her quaker
The best time to start a business is when you still have a regular
Pastor E.A. Adeboye wrote: God is a good and wonderful God but He

Recently Viewed Topics




© 2015