list (at least) 100 ways that I know there is a loving god/goddess/force operating in my life.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [= justice], for they will be filled.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

93. Jesus’ resistance to religious hypocrisy—including mine
94. Jesus’ confrontation of evil with his own death
95. Jesus’ resurrection
96. the earliest Christian believers’ joy & sacrifice
97. being forgiven
98. witnessing the forgiveness of others
99. learning to forgive
100. the Eucharist
101. my baptism
102. witnessing baptisms of my sisters & brothers in the faith

I could go on! But I am happy to have assembled this list; it was a deeply nurturing exercise.

66. bread
67. wine
68. butterflies
69. tacana blossoms in the Chocó jungle
70. eyes
71. cheekbones
72. different textures of hair
73. the structure of languages
74. the fine-tuning of the universe
75. conversations that shine
76. potatoes
77. pumpkins
78. tangerines
79. limes

80. mangos
81. raspberries
82. the fabrics woven by indigenous Guatemalans
83. ocean waves
84. Lake Michigan
85. forests
86. Starved Rock Park
87. rivers

Certain experiences help me become aware of God’s presence, such as . . .

49. singing harmony
50. folk dancing
51. the richness of words, even in speaking of their paucity
52. sleep, which reminds me that I’m a creature (& is such a deep, primal pleasure!)
53. Bach’s B-Minor Mass
54. Bach’s “Sleepers Awake”
55. Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s rendition of “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”
56. the blossom-laden dogwoods & crabapples of this spring
57. the shelter of trees
58. the raw green of spring leaves
59. the voice of Susana Baca
60. the voice of Mercedes Sosa
61. the voice of Lucía Pulido
62. the hands of children
63. paper
64. laughter
65. the miracle of writing, being able to communicate with others, & speak to myself, by making shapes with a pen on paper

40. people who choose nonviolent resistance against unjust structures

41. people who are working hard to turn the tide of global warming

42. people who fight racism & ethnocentrism

43. people who fight poverty

From history:

44. the exodus

45. the Underground Railroad

46. the village of Le Chambon, France, during World War II

47. the Freedom Riders

48. South Africa’s dismantling of apartheid without the long-feared bloodbath

(Photo is of a protest held during the Colombian president’s visit to Washington this past week. It made me cry to see people standing up publicly and dramatically for justice in that much-loved country.)

in my notebook, but I’m not going to inflict all 70+ items on myself & everyone else in a huge unwieldy list, fun though that might be in some ways. Instead I’ll break it up into segments & post them over the next few days.

This set consists of transformations AND centeredness in the lives of people I love.

31. My father’s story, how his conversion in his late teens turned his life completely around.

32. My mother’s example of faith in hardship, especially through years of suffering with rheumatoid arthritis.

33. My mother’s initiative in opening our family’s home, after her children all grew up, to 8-15 Colombian foster children at a time. Over a period of 8 years, my parents & their small staff cared for more than 200 children. Some of them would not have survived without that care. Nearly all of them were placed for adoption, some within Colombia, others by families in North America & Europe.

34. The way G., after years of unhealthy behavior that made his family suffer, turned to faith in Christ & made his way to a much more wholesome lifestyle.

35. The dignity of my friend T. as he fights cancer & faces his mortality.

36. Remembering how J., one hot July morning, climbed onto the leaky roof of a low-income family with a bunch of Christian friends . . . They worked all day, & he doesn’t know exactly how/when it happened, only that by the time he climbed down the ladder that afternoon he had become a Christ-follower.

37. J.’s long faithfulness since that conversion nearly 35 years ago.

38. My children’s eagerness to make a difference in the world.

39. D.’s recovery from depression.

29. Snow. This is not on my list because I love snow & cold weather; I don’t particularly, though snow is quite beautiful & if I lived year round in semitropical weather (e.g., Medellín, Colombia—blissfully pleasant! right, ardilla?) I would want to go north or south to experience it occasionally. Snow is a sign of the Creator’s care, a time when the earth (in certain latitudes) goes to sleep & is restored.

30. Compost. Another natural process of decaying/dying to nurture new life. Compost-produced humus is so darkly beautiful & rich.

In 1999 I survived a very serious car crash. During the weeks of recovery, I found that my inner question was not “Why did that happen to me?” but “Why did I survive?”

Lots of good people die in car wrecks & other accidents. I had no illusion that my survival was some kind of reward for good behavior. Instead I came to the conclusion that I survived because God still had work for me to do. Probably not just one task but a number of them!

One of the many friends who came to visit me during recovery was Reuben, a college student who was a refugee from Liberia. During the early 1990s flare-up of civil war there he had been tortured, but inexplicably a commander came by in the midst of it & told the soldiers to stop. Later Reuben was with a group of folks in a church when it was attacked; he escaped through a window & walked 12 days till he got to a refugee camp in Cote d’Ivoire. He lived there, his life on hold in most ways, for 7 years! Finally clearance came for permanent immigration to the U.S.

Reuben was the person who understood my sense of having survived for a purpose.

The Soweto Gospel Choir.

18. the smell of cinnamon
19. the smell of cilantro
20. the smell of lemon balm
21. the smell of basil
22. rain
23. sun
24. leaves
25. earth
26. stars

What is it in us that impels us to love others rather than just watching out for ourselves? First John says, “We love because [God] first loved us.”

It is a great blessing to be able to give.