My college roommate still makes fun of me. “Mijo. Que no tienes madre!!” he still tells me. Son. Don’t you have a mother! He even uses the same intonation and Hispanic drawl.
Coming from a New Yorker, he does a remarkably good job of sounding exactly like my mother when she left that message so many years ago. I must have gotten busy and not called her back. She missed my voice. And I miss hers.
We were a suite of seven guys living together. In those days we didn’t have cellphones. We shared one telephone line. Come to think of it, we shared everything. One bathroom, one common room and one life. We even shared what used to be called an “answering machine.” There was just one machine, one life, and my mother leaving one message for the world to hear.
That’s the way it is with callings and signs — if you believe in them. Your heart must be open. Today, for example, I went to the funeral of Grace Baker. She was a lovely soul and a strong woman to many. While in church, I heard the same reading we get in the Catholic Mass: “Even though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” It is a reminder that even in death, there is everlasting life. And if we don’t even fear death, why do we fear the little things in life, like change, challenges and the fear of upsetting our way of life? When there are greater things to come and greater things to build, you must answer the call.
There is never a perfect time and there are never perfect conditions to start — starting makes the conditions perfect. I often feel I let that momentum go. Maybe it was a phase. I certainly couldn’t call it boredom or lack of will. Sometimes we just lose interest because we’re tired of spinning our wheels thinking we’re not making a difference. It is easy to feel trapped into thinking things will never change. Or that Española isn’t ready for it because change is not easy.
But the people of Española don’t want the same. Though they may want the same chile on their enchilada every single time, that doesn’t mean they’re afraid of change. It’s not the same as saying they prefer the same death spiral of poor education, poor quality of life and self-loathing. Because we are none of those things. I’m tired of our leaders crying that we are “poor” and we’re a downtrodden community. They cry that we “deserve better” as a way to create unity. But it only makes us sound like we’ve been left in the crib for too long. They use “we deserve better” as a war cry because we are, after all, tribal. They think we need to rally around a common theme of self-abnegation and a “poor me” syndrome.
Española wants change, but the elected officials who are so afraid of losing an election or losing power and influence spread the gospel of steady as she goes. “Give them a little spark,” I was always told. “Pick the low hanging fruit” and the plebeians of Española will thank you. They will bow down to you and re-elect you. You must pacify the peasantry who have been taught that change is bad because it messes with their culture and tradition. The time has come to break the mold. Española needs, is ready for, and burns for monumental change. The streets are filled with hope.
Catholics celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12. It commemorates the miraculous vision of the Blessed Mary to a common peasant named Juan Diego in Mexico City. She instructed him to build a chapel on the hill of Tepeyac. She instructed him to open his cloak, and out poured dozens of roses with her image above. It was a miracle. There now stands a glorious basilica in her honor. And on it, at the very top, are inscribed the words she spoke to Juan Diego: “No estoy yo aqui? Que soy tu Madre?” Am I not here, I who am your mother?
The world comes full circle. What I heard on that answering machine 30 years ago reminds me of the words that Our Lady of Guadalupe lovingly tells the world from the top of her basilica. We all get the calls. We are all summoned to do our work. You just have to hear them and decide whether or not you want to answer. I think I will.
Javier Sanchez is an
El Rito Media columnist, former Española Mayor, and restaurant owner.