My daughters, Jessica and Natalia, have grown up in one of the generations in which cell phones are a “normal” part of their lives. This contrasts with my own experience, in which I welcomed the cell phone a few years after it was available on the market.
When they were between 10 and 13 years old, they began to be more and more exposed to social media, particularly Instagram. They would often show me the images that made them laugh out loud. The “memes.”
As I understand memes, they are images or short videos that represent a real situation, with a touch of mockery and lightness. They have a phrase in big letters to reinforce what they want to illustrate.
My daughters continue to grow in the United States, also exposed to Hispanic culture, so they feel very familiar with food, language and mainly Mexican music.
On one of the many occasions when they were laughing together looking at memes on Instagram, they showed me one in particular that made me burst out laughing too.
The meme was something like this:
A boy of around 12 years old, lying in his bed on a Saturday morning at 7:30 AM. The boy was covered with a thick blanket of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and his mother told him to get up so they could start cleaning up the house.
For that purpose, the mom was blasting latin music as loud as she could.
My daughters laughed so hard because they identified with it. Then they told me that it was exactly the same in our house. And that the music I played while cleaning on Saturday mornings was by Juan Luis Guerra, on an iPad (now prehistoric), on the Pandora digital station.
It was this digital station that introduced me a little more to the music of this great Dominican singer-songwriter. Although my musical training is classical, I also really enjoy music performed with great pitch and rhythm.
My Juan Luis Guerra station was growing as Juan Luis was releasing new musical productions. I remember that while I was cleaning (hahaha), I had to stop for a moment to enjoy the musical arrangements, the composition, the lyrics… in short… everything! I am a big fan.
Every time I like a song, I listen to it over and over again, because I focus on listening to different areas of the recording.
There was one song in particular, from one of his Christian albums, that the last thing I paid attention to was the lyrics. In the case of Juan Luis Guerra’s music, my attention is captured by the arrangements, the dynamics, the interpretation and excellent orchestral tuning.
Finally, the moment arrived when I could pay attention to the lyrics. And the chorus went like this:
-There is no hospital in heaven,
I assure you that [God] wants to heal you,
You will rise in his name,
There is no hospital in heaven
Although there were many songs that made me feel the same way, this one took me out of my concentration on cleaning. It made me think a little more about the lyrics. I asked myself:
-What does he mean by there is no hospital in heaven?
What comes up in you when you hear this phrase?
As I was focused on cleaning my house, I did not fall into theological explorations about this, but I allowed my imagination go.
As a child, I imagined heaven as a white and blue version of my surroundings. My house, family, school, stores, and even going to the doctor, everything was the same. So, when I heard: “There is no hospital in heaven,” something didn’t match. How could there not be a hospital?
And you, how do you imagine heaven?
Again, without paying 100% attention to the lyrics, I concluded that he must have referred to the fact that there is no longer illness, nor death. Therefore, there is no need to recover from anything, because healing has already happened. And I thought:
–Awww, what a nice thought… I hope it gives hope to those who are suffering from some illness…
And so I left it as such. Every time I listened to the song, as on other times, I focused more on the music than on the lyrics.
Regarding miraculous physical healings described in the gospel, what I grew up hearing in homilies over the years was that they were described as something “only from the time of Jesus,” and that we should not aspire to a miracle of healing.
What is your experience when hearing about the miracles of Jesus?
Similar to delving into the lyrics of Juan Luis Guerra’s song, I also did not delve into that part of the homilies. Until…
Until one day I found myself in a hospital bed, many years later, longing for health more than ever.
In those moments of great discomfort, why not pray for, and expect physical healing? I doubted so much that all the priests from whom I heard “we shouldn’t expect miracles” had ever experienced such discomfort..
And if I long for healing, why not hope for what I long for? It all seemed so contradictory.
It is true that difficulties are part of life, I do not deny that. But personally I am not attracted by the idea of suffering for… I don’t know how long…
And it is also true that many other people have faced even more critical difficulties than mine, and have been able to move forward..
Still, why not ask for and hope for a miracle? Did God’s miracles only apply in Jesus’ time?
I refused to believe that. And another type of miracle has happened.
I am not only a fan of Juan Luis Guerra, but also a fan of St. Ignatius of Loyola, from whom I continue to learn a lot about how to have a more intimate and personal relationship with God.
My interests as a fanatic (or rather, devotee), have been extending to other personalities. Lately, to St. Teresa of Avila.
On your path of faith, who do you rely on to get to better know God?
Symbolically speaking, these saints are stepping down from their pedestals, and I don’t just see them as closer and more human. They present me with a closer and more human God in their friendship. And they let me know that they began their journey in the same humanity that each and every one of us has.
Very, very slowly, I think I’m beginning to understand a little bit what St. Teresa and many other saints are referring to.
Whoever knows that they are loved can begin to experience heaven on earth.
Would you long to begin to experience heaven here and now?
This gives me not only hope, but certainty that not only will everything be fine, but that everything, today, is fine. Whatever it is. It is as it is.
That was the miracle.
And for the days when it is not so easy for me to know that I am in heaven, Juan Luis Guerra reminded me that it is with faith that God raises us up.
If the Spirit leads you, share with Jesus the Carpenter your desire today, here and now, to begin to experience heaven on earth. Maybe you can enjoy the music of Juan Luis Guerra together.
Marisol
P.S. We can hear about how the body can heal in the readings of the XXIII Sunday of Ordinary Time, year/cycle B.
