With so many humbling Life’s lessons tucked into my portfolio, one would think I would have mastered the art of humility by now. As with the protagonists in The Years of Rice and Salt, however, it appears that I am destined to relive and relearn those lessons, until I have them perfected. (In my assumption of even the potential for perfection, lies evidence of the distance I have yet to travel to achieve Master status.)
With each step taken, mindful of my mantra: “please let me be an instrument of peace,” I find that I am but a conduit for those who are the true instruments—at least when I’m not inadvertently damming the flow of their good works. (One should not, I suppose, underestimate the peacebuilding potential of the unintended comic relief I seem to provide. Bubbling in the wake that churns behind me, camaraderie borne of mirth often effervesces.)
As I tuck the lofty title “Peacebuilder Fellow to Mexico (short term)” in the recesses of my backpack, it is with some trepidation–could “short term” refer to my life expectancy?–much anticipation—I cannot wait to meet my fellow pasajeros on this life journey, and with little expectation— in expectation, I have found I am invariably wrong, for the road rarely leads where I expect it to. To our humbling and fulfilling journeys, pasajeros!!
Twitter@amy_clark1
A road less traveled: La Tagua, Colombia, 1/14
