Trail Magic

A major theme of my time in Mexico thus far has been justice – or should I say, the lack thereof. Since being here, my eyes have been opened to various injustices in the world. I know there has been injustices around me my whole life, but much of it has been covert or discreet. Plus, I have been fortunate to not have to experience injustices because of my privilege. Now, in Mexico, corruption and injustice are often blatant and highly visible. The beating and robbing of migrants by police, migra, gangs, and others. The disappearance of Mexicans by cartels and police – especially those Mexicans who are politically active or who denounce corruption. The economic practices of transnational corporations, paying Mexican laborers paltry wages while making exponentially more off their work.

This past week has been especially heavy. I watched a documentary on YouTube this week called “Pimp City,” which details the trafficking of people from Tlaxcala to the United States. My mind was blown that thousands of people in my new home have been deceived into the sex trade, where they have then become modern day slaves, and have been sent to cities across the U.S. Even more bewildering, is realizing that many of these people will pass through my hometown in the U.S. as they travel to Austin, Dallas, Houston, and across the United Sates.

I also read a book this week about the massacre of nearly a thousand civilians in El Mozote by the U.S.-backed El Salvadoran government during the civil war in the 1980s. The incident was particularly troubling as both the El Salvadoran and U.S. government ignored the massacre – and other similar incidents in following years -, while playing it off as propaganda from the opposing guerillas. I was bothered by the fact that the United States government ignored this situation in order to maintain their policy – supporting the El Salvadoran regime in order to combat communism – while ignoring the effect that these actions had on innocent people. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated circumstance of U.S. intervention. The same power of the United States can be seen in Mexico today as funds given to Mexico for Plan Mérida – and covertly to Plan Frontera Sur – are leading to increased violence, increased police brutality, and government corruption in the nation.

Lastly, hearing about the San Berdino shooting back in the States also left me at a loss for words. Why do senseless killings keep happening? Why is there so much violence? What can we do about this? If enacted, would gun policies actually do anything to help reduce shootings in the U.S.?*

I am overwhelmed. At times, I feel as if the forces of injustice in this world have impunity, as if the forces of darkness in this world are invincible.

[breath… in… out…]

Doña Mari serving comida

I have to remind myself that while there is much evil and injustice in the world, and while it may be hard – if not impossible at times – to see the light at the end of the tunnel, there is goodness in the world. There are incredible organizations, incredible people, and radical acts of love that are slowly bringing light to the darkness. Just as there are random people who dedicate themselves to radical acts of hospitality for thru-hikers on the PCT, CDT, AT, CT, etc., leaving coolers full of soda and candy-bars for hikers they have never met – a gift we call “Trail Magic” -, so there are “Trail Angels” in the areas void of justice in the world, loving on people they have never met and providing hope for the world. This trail magic is like a refreshing spring in the dessert, helping those without a voice and inspiring the rest of us who aim to be trail angels for the other.

Recalling these acts of love – these instances of trail magic, if you will – gives me hope. One such story that I found profoundly uplifting is catalogued in Sonia Nazario’s book Enrique’s Journey about the journey of one migrant on La Bestia. Nazario writes

  Not long after seeing the statue of Jesus, Enrique is alone on a hopper. Night has fallen, and as the train passes through a tiny town, it blows its soulful horn. He looks over the side. More than a dozen people, mostly women and children, are rushing out of their houses along the tracks, clutching small bundles.
     Some of the migrants grow afraid. Will these people throw rocks? They lie low on top of the train. Enrique sees a woman and a boy run up alongside his hopper.
     "¡Órale, chavo! Here, boy!" they shout. They toss up a roll of crackers. It is the first gift.
     Enrique reaches out. He grabs with one hand but holds tightly to the hopper with the other. The roll of crackers flies several feet away, bounces off the car, and thumps to the ground.
     Now women and children on both sides of the tracks are throwing bundles to the migrants on the tops of the cars. They run quickly and aim carefully mostly in silence, trying hard not to miss.
     "¡Allí va uno! There's one!"     Enrique looks down. There are the same woman and boy. They are heaving a blue plastic bag. This time the bundles lands squarely in his arms. "¡Gracias! ¡Adiós!" he calls into the darkness. He isn't sure the strangers, who pass by in a flash, even heard him.
     He opens the bag. Inside are half a dozen rolls of bread.
     The towns of Encinar, Fortín de las Flores, Cuichapa, and Presidio are particularly known for their kindness...
     These are unlikely places for people to be giving food to strangers. A World Bank study in 2000 found that 42.5 percent of Mexico's 100 million people live on $2 or less a day. here, in rural areas, 30 percent of children five years old and younger eat so littler that their growth is stunted, and the people who live in humble houses along the rails are often the poorest.
     Families throw sweaters, tortillas, bread, and plastic bottles filled with lemonade. A baker, his hands coated with flour, throws his extra loaves. A seamstress throws bags filled with sandwiches. A teenager throws bananas. A carpenter throws bean burritos. A store owner throws animal crackers, day-old pastries, and half-liter bottles of water. People who have watched migrants fall off the train from exhaustion bring plastic jugs filled with Coca-Cola or coffee...     "If I have one tortilla, I give half away," one of the food throwers says. "I know God will bring me more."     Another: "I don't like to feel that I have eaten and they haven't."     Still others: "When you see these people, it moves you. It moves you. Can you imagine how far they've come?"     "God says, when I saw you naked, I clothed you. When I saw you hungry, I gave you food. This is what God teaches."     "It feels good to give something that they need so badly."     "I figure when I die, I can't take anything with me. So why not give?"     "What if someday something bad happens to us? Maybe someone will extend a hand to us.** 

*After expressing these frustrations and fears, my friend Ryana reminded me to not succumb to this violence, but rather to continue to strive for change. She says, “I do understand those feelings and I have had those doubts but to live into those doubts of "nothing will change" would be to succumb to allowing violence like this in our country. Also, if nothing else this is for future generations. Maintaining our lack of regulations, lack of action, etc. would be condemning this pattern to continue far into the future. I don't believe sitting back in doubt and letting that happen is an ethical response. Maybe it won't do much, but there comes a point where change must begin somewhere.” 

** Nazario, Sonia. Enrique's Journey. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2007, p.103-106

  

Made in the divine image, microcosm and mediator, man is priest and king of creation. Consciously and with deliberate purpose, he can do two things that the animals can only do unconsciously and instinctively. First, man is able to bless and praise God for the world… Secondly,… man is able to reshape and alter the world, and so endue it with fresh meaning. In the words of Fr Dumitru Staniloae, “Man puts the seal of his understanding and of his intelligent work onto creation… The world is not only a gift, but a task for man.” It is our calling to cooperate with God; we are in St. Paul’s phrase, “fellow-workers with God” (1 Cor 3:9). Man is… a creative animal: the fact that man is a creator after the image of God the Creator. This creative role he fultills, not by brute force, but through the clarity of his spiritual vision; his vocation is not to dominate and exploit nature, but to transfigure and hallow it.

Ware, Kalistos. The Orthodox Way. New York: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1995, p.53-54.