Consoled and Challenged

by Dan Castillo

Mark,

Thank you for your book. It was very human and beautiful. Your and Mev’s struggles with faith, with learning to love each other, and with solidarity with the poor resonated deeply with me. I found myself both consoled and challenged. It has given me much to think about. One particular theme that stood out for me was encapsulated in a Clodovis Boff quote from his interview with Mev; he said something to the effect of “You need to enjoy the beautiful things in life. Now I drink tea and practice yoga. A few years ago I would have considered those things so bourgeois. But they really are good!” Throughout your book, it’s clear that you and Mev struggled not only to live in solidarity with the poor but also to enjoy the beauty and good in this world. This was good for me to read. I’m glad that Mev loved ice cream! I’m glad that you got your PhD! I struggle with this greatly, as I’m sure everyone who is conscientized does to some degree. For me, I’m findng that this struggle is rooted in my not knowing who I am or to Whom I belong nearly well enough. As a result, I tend to want to reject anything that is good so that I can live in poverty and be the “best catholic worker” or Christian, or whatever. But I’ve found that it can be largely just a show to prove to others that I’m “good.” What a silly way to live! I often think of Paul words in 1 Cor. 13 about “giving up his body to be burned and gaining nothing.” I do hope to be able to live more in solidarity with the poor. But I’m finding that if it’s not rooted in love then it can be simply a self serving and impotent solidarity. The inner pagoda that Thicht Nhat Hahn tells Dan Berrigan we all need to build if we are to protect anything in this world needs some work in my being.

Anyway I hope that that made some sense, I find myself wanting to make three clarifying statements to every sentence I just wrote but that would take far too long. The bottomline is that I am gratetful for the extent that you have been able to enjoy the beauty in life and for Mev’s capacity for joy as well. I know that sometimes joy can be a struggle in this world. But it is so very important. Graditude is such a necessity! Thank you for sharing some of joy and pain of your life with Mev. I feel honored to have read the book.

Dan is a former community member of Karen House and is currently a graduate student at the Washington Theological Union in Washington, DC. He and his wife Erika just returned from a month’s honeymoon in Spain.