Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

If even God suffered the crucifixion for us, there must be something good insuffering, especially in suffering for the sake of others, that we do not fullyunderstand. In our Latino realism, we do not go looking for suffering as ifit were something desirable, but neither do we deny it or run away from it.We assume it, transcend it, and dare to celebrate life in spite of it.We carry memories on our pilgrimages: memories of our ancestrallands and people, memories of our losses and realized hopes. Memory isthe soul of a people. Without it we are just individuals living and workingin a common space. The earliest creed of the Hebrew people was “My fatherwas a wandering Aramean. … God brought us out of Egypt” (Deuteronomy26:5–11). Throughout the Bible, God always calls upon the people to remembertheir ancestors, to remember what God has done for them. The livingmemory of how God has walked with us, through deserts and mountains,through triumph and defeat, through enslavement and freedom, throughlife and death, is the source of our strength. We have unquestioned faith inthe God who is near and far away, a God who sees and hears, a God whofeels in the heart, and a God who always accompanies us on the march.And we carry our crucified Lord, the embodiment of our own crucifiedlives; his own unlimited power of endurance is transferred to us.They could kill him but could not destroy him. So it is with us—they canhumiliate us, exploit us, kill us, but they cannot destroy us! Aguante is theguarantee of life! Others might see it as a weakness; we see it as the greateststrength, which transcends the many destructive forces all around us. Evenwhen we are killed, we cannot be destroyed, for others carry on, and wecontinue to live in them! This is the divine energy, which keeps us moving,alive and human.The future is mestizo, and to bring it about we will work, laugh, play,study, vote—to renew democracy and renew the lives of all Americanos.The new mestizaje is the joyous birth of a new humanity. No more barriers,no more racism. The past will not be forgotten but will be blended into thenew bodies and cultures that will emerge out of our coming together not inbattle or conquest, as in the days of old, but in love, which is the only forcethat can unite us without destroying us. That is the way to world peace andharmony, and Latinos struggle, dream, and work for that future.261