Our third Advent banner went up yesterday. The last two banners I just love. Each banner has the word of the week: hope, peace, joy and love in English, and at least in one other language. Joy has a dragon and the word in Chinese…it also has bells on it. And if you are not a small tot what could symbolize joy more than Chinese fireworks and a dancing dragon?Being the cynical woman I am, there are a couple of things that people who come to Nicaragua for the first time say that grate on me, and one is “The poor are just so happy.”
I think it grates on me so much because I come from the South and that is something that whites would say when they wanted to excuse the fact that they owned people like farm animals. "Why, the darkies are happy…listen to them…they sing, laugh and dance,” without once understanding the pain and loss the slaves experienced. It was an absolute miracle that they could find any reason to sing and dance.
The Chinese Dragon dance symbolizes many things…one being the Sacred Dragon who symbolizes dignity.Joy is found in dignity. When we worked in the States with the poor, it was difficult because the poor in the States identify themselves as failures, takers, and losers. (If you wonder why, just listen to the news.)
Here in Nicaragua being poor is just one aspect of life. Poor people are doctors, poets, car mechanics, mothers, grandfathers, children of the Divine…people of worth in their own right…and because of that, they can laugh, sing, and dance.
Joy is something we all seek. We cannot experience joy if we feel like failures or losers or takers, but more importantly: how can we feel joy if we take dignity away from others through our words and actions? -Kathleen
