jamie's wanderings

This blog has woven past experiences with current ones of my life here in Spain. However, today's reflection is more of what is going on right now, right here, and how in the midst of it, I am looking to make sense of it with the lens of the Ancient Prayer, The Lord's Prayer. Many of you who read this have confessed to me that you do not believe as I do, and that's ok, but I find the need to express these thoughts below and I invite you to reflect on them with me.  One of the most powerful pieces of Scripture for me is when Jesus responds to the question how do we pray? The ancient words go something like this Our Father, who lives in heaven, holy is your name. May your kingdom come, and your will be done, here on earth as it is in heaven. Give us our daily bread. Help us to forgive others as you have forgiven us. Don't let us fall into temptation,  but! Deliver us from Evil. For yours is the kingdom, all the power, and all the glory are yours. Amen Praise, petition for...

 Last week, the little family from the East and I looked at an apartment, and for 6 days the owners hemmed and hawed about if they were going to help a family in distress or not. The answer finally came, no. I put out feelers, distress SOS, someone I've only spoken to on the phone in smooth Granada Spanish in a deep voice sent me a voice message, Jamie, call Maria Angeles, she's got a place. The little family of four, and myself found ourselves yesterday on the sidewalk outside a tall building. Good location, lots of shops, cafes, bars, parks, buses and metro. 15 minutes walk to the cafe they are running. And before the family joined us, I knew the owner was open to having immigrants. We saw the flat, 2 baths, 4 bedrooms, big living room and a little balcony/terrace to stretch out in after a long day of running the cafe. Heat to keep them warm, aircon to cool, not as much light as would be nice, but everything was well kept. I knew it was theirs when Maria Angeles said, do you ...