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I found a letter outside my house.
It was a simple sheet of ruled notebook that contained a message written in red pen, addressed to none other than me.
“Dear Neighbor,” it begins. “My name María Rodríguez,” followed by her phone number and her home address. Sharing personal data like that only told me that this lady is not afraid of anything.
I do not censor her name because I do not doubt that in my neighborhood there are at least 15 María Rodríguez. I continued reading, waiting for a possible complaint about perhaps the fact that at mealtime in my house there is a lot of noise because my grandmother, in addition to dementia, suffers from deafness, and when her hearing aid doesn't work, we have to talk very strong.
But no, the purpose was completely different.
“I hope you can read this letter.
With great enthusiasm I am doing this for you, who are my neighbors, which is why it is of great importance to share this text.
Matthew chapter 6 - verse 7
When you pray, don't repeat the same thing over and over again.
Our prayers must be from the heart according to what we feel and need and most importantly the only main means is Jesus Who died for us.
I hope that when you pray you make these suggestions. Jehovah God will undoubtedly listen to your prayers.
I invite you to the sitewww.jw.org
I say goodbye to the main objective
Dear reader, learn to pray.”
María did not sign with her name, but with a drawing, on which she wrote “A rainbow always gives hope.”
Countless thoughts ran through my head. But I think it's a good idea to make a public and official response. I feel like we all need it in some way or another. So here it goes.
Dear Mary:
I want to thank you for the time you dedicated to this letter and for choosing my house to deliver it.
I must confess that in other circumstances I would possibly have thought that there are actions with more palpable, quicker and effective repercussions than praying. Ironically, I have a cross chain hanging around my neck right now. But today, I am invaded by helplessness and I see your proposal as the only possible escape.
In these circumstances I have nothing left but to pray that my father can continue working despite the two latent threats he lives with: a virus without a cure and a stay without papers.
I have nothing left but to pray that my mother does not get infected and bring home this flu, apparently harmless, that could have terrible consequences for my grandparents.
I have nothing left but to pray for the injustices that are experienced throughout the world of which we are aware through small devices that attack us with overwhelming news, videos and images, with text messages and phone calls.
I have nothing left but to wait for time to pass quickly to feel close to the people I love again.
I have nothing left but to pray for my friend and the return of his missing mother.
Maria, you could say that I even envy you. Because surely you put your heart in your words and I am about putting my words into action but everything that is in my hands I have already done and I feel that nothing has changed, that there is no solution.
But as you say, a rainbow always brings hope and today I have nothing left but to wait for the rainy season to be able to see that strip of colors painted in the sky. I hope that with it, I can breathe easier and fall asleep faster.
I will follow your advice: there is no point in repeating the same thing over and over again. I did what I did, I prayed what I prayed. And next time, it will be different. I'll do whatever I have to do. I will pray more, but with other words. Because I change with time if not time changes me. And moving forward does not mean forgetting, it means learning. And you don't learn if you get stuck in the same chapter over and over again.
Sincerely,
Your neighbor Ilse.
PS: I thought you lived without fear for sharing your personal data, but now I see that you live with faith.
