Salon Antigua is a gathering of writers, editors and other professionals with long experience living abroad. Members reside in the colonial town of La Antigua Guatemala perhaps the most colorful and exciting place in Central America. For all who contemplate a life abroad we offer our experiences including benefits, pleasures and downsides. On a bi-weekly basis we read from our most recent writings of any type for general critique, an essential step toward publication.
Salon Antigua !! Salon Antigua next meeting :Wednesday January 23, 10 AM at Monte Casita
THE PARADOX by "Everyman" |
“There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”
Shakespeare We have all experienced the extreme joys of love. It comes with unconditional giving and accepting, by way of a lover, a mother or dear, dear friend. Such joy precludes all malice, precludes thinking and touches our souls, open, raw, unadorned and unprotected.
There is also ecstasy that lives among us.
It comes in form of music, art, religion, that carries us beyond
the mundane beyond our thinking limits and touches on what some
call heaven.
There are in addition the fervent
teachings of priests and other messengers who want us to forgo
our rational thought to discover their promise of paradise
ahead.
And there are some who had visions of such
paradise who for brief moments were engulfed in a cloud of most
exquisite love, who saw beauty and ugliness become one, pain and
joy turn into eternal bliss. And who managed to report on their
experience with words all but inadequate. We are all connected
with everything that exists in this universe, for us to judge it
and thus ourselves as good or bad, right or wrong is nothing but
ignorant arrogance.
All the above are moments that allow us to
touch on what may be the true essence, the governing spirit of
life. It may consist of an infinite mass of love that hovers
among us and is unattainable while we remain thinking human
beings. We can fathom it when we for brief moments push thinking
aside and have the courage to follow our hearts, our souls into
what must be our true home.
It is thinking that makes us afraid of
losing life. It is thinking that makes us spend billions in
treatment designed to keep us from our paradise even if just for
another day or hour. It is our thinking and not our hearts we
trust and so we suffer life - and at the same time resist by all
possible means the final surrender.
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by Jan Theberge
|
Standing in line to pay for medicine at hospital Hermano Pedro, the cashier refused my Q100 bill($13.00), offering an explanation in Spanish I did not understand. A woman came to my side and
offered her money in payment. I was left guessing, but assumed making change was the difficulty. She quietly returned to her place in line,
her arm support for an elderly woman, my heart changed by her selfless act and sweet smile.
The lady helping me clean brought a gift of curtains for a window, sensing I did not know where to shop, her thought to brighten
our home. We shared little in words but everything was said in a smile and with a hug. A middle aged man who often walked by our home
frequently brought me flowers from his garden, his welcome so sincere. Having missed a bus from San Felipe to Antigua a car pulled along-side, the driver an elderly lady,
offered me, a total stranger a ride, saving me a long walk in the sun. We enjoyed the small window of time together, exchanging names and
information.
The ceviche vendor, father of five, whistles and waves every day, giving me his phone number assuring me in broken English that he will come if I need help. The man, who
sells me chicken, greets me with smiling recognition, inquiring about the health of my husband, never forgetting his name. The beautician who
cuts our hair is embarrassed to accept payment. When we were unable to travel to her, she came to our home, saying she wanted no payment for her services.
Sitting one day in a small restaurant, I listened to a woman talk about the years she had been visiting Guatemala and the changes she has seen, her
disappointment the impact tourism has had on the people. Too often in our attempts to be generous, we forget the art of gracious receiving,
the counter balance to... it is better to give then to receive. In a country that needs so much, in the face of extreme poverty and hardship,
these gentle acts of giving which are so important to the human spirit, have brought us a deeper sense of appreciation, an added tranquility to our lives. They have welcomed us home.
PINSTRIPES IN THE MARKET OF
ANTIGUA GUATEMALA
By
Peter C. Meyer