Experiencing God in the summer

One interesting trip I took this summer was to Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur, Mexico. I had never been to Mexico and had had no desire of doing so. However, since a friend invited my family, we took up the offer, just to be by a beach. Cabo San Lucas is a high class resort town, catering to Americans and Canadians. Beautiful, clean, pristine beaches and family-friendly pools for every resort. Of course, it goes without saying, the Mexicans are dirt poor, earning an average of $4 - $5 a day. I witnessed a young family – a couple with a baby -- living in a small AV truck parked at the corner of a fancy 8-unit apartment complex. I assumed the man was the maintenance guy for that apartment complex.
On a couple of occasions my daughter and I were driven away from the resort region into the heart of Baja peninsula. Since summer is their dry season, the landscape is totally a desert. Brown dusty mountain ranges all around, but covered with cacti. They told me those half-alive cacti are 80 or 90 years old. They said that when the rainy season comes in Sept. the landscape is green, lush, and blooming with flowers.
As I journeyed briefly through the desert and deserted landscape, and swam in the surrounding waters, I couldn’t help but being amazed and adore that part of Mexico. I have also tasted wonderful and tasteful Mexican food, quite different from what we have here in USA. (I loved their shrimp and fish tacos.) And I watched the locals dressed in white clothes and hats, as they walked up and down the beaches on hot summer days, carrying and selling colorful trinkets on their shoulders and hands. One time a pregnant young woman approached us to sell her goods. We walked away feeling guilty. Local children were out in the evening selling trinkets, too.
All this drew me to the Mexicans, their land and culture. There’s beauty and a sense of connectedness in all that I saw. I saw God in all those people and landscapes. I saw the enduring life and strength underneath the heat, the desert, the ocean, and the people making living with so little. I saw colorful life in the goods they made and the food they cooked. I see the wonder of God’s creation all in that strip and southern tip of Mexican peninsula.
This summer in a conversation with an UPC member, both of us agreed that we see God surrounding us in our daily life. We do not have to experience extraordinary events or people in order to see God. We see God wherever we are, with whomever we encounter.
Have you seen God this summer? I invite you to bring and share your photographs, and tell your stories at our Homecoming Sunday, Sept. 12. We will gather at 9:30am for breakfast, fellowship, and worship to celebrate God in our lives.
This year’s Homecoming Sunday we are doing something new and different. We are incorporating fellowship, education, and worship all together on Sunday morning, and it is for the whole congregation to participate. We will use this similar format for another three Sundays throughout the 2010-2011 year. We want to encourage lively intergenerational interactions and worship. So please, come at 9:30am on Sunday, Sept. 12. Bring your beautiful summer experiences to share.