Walking With El Salvador

While one might logically and theologically expect that a story entitled "The Lutheran Trifecta" would explore the Holy Trinity: God the Creator (Father/Mother), Son (Jesus) and Holy Spirit, that is not the subject of this writing. As October passes and November begins, Salvadoran Lutherans and many of their global siblings in faith gather in worship and tradition to celebrate the Lutheran Trifecta:  Reformation Day, All Saints Day and All Souls Day.  Reformation Day is traditionally celebrated on All Hallows Eve - October 31st - the date on which in 1517 C.E., Martin Luther supposedly nailed his notorious 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany. His goal was to reform the Roman Catholic Church. His legacy, with that of other reformers, charted a new course for Christianity.  The Flat Martin pattern made its way to El Salvador several years ago, and sightings of Flat Martin have been reported in 2022. (photo by Pastor Gloria) In El Salvador, there are ...

We walked toward the edge of town. "What's the story about that old church?" I asked. The building looked nearly abandoned. "That is the Iglesia Catolica El Calvario.  They are working on the church, I think, but they still meet. This neighborhood is called El Calvario. When we walk to the edge of town, we say we are going to El Calvario . It's an expression we use because we say at the edge of every town, it is called El Calvario.  'We will meet you at Calvary' means we will meet you at the edge of town." There is a story from this neighborhood of Tonacatepeque, El Calvario. Like many of the legends from Tonaca, this one is meant to cause the listeners to think about their behavior. Thanks to Sonia and the women's group in Tonaca as well as author José María Melgar Callejas for this story. The Legend of the Flirty Parro t    In the outer corridor of a house in El Calvario, there was a bird cage, and inside the cage, there was a guest - a parrot ...

I put some thought into my outfit for the day. Sensible black skirt, sensible black shoes, a white polo shirt with a big Luther Rose embroidered near the right shoulder, and a hand-made wooden cross hanging around my neck. Just in case we were stopped at the entrance to the community, the clear Lutheran Church identity could be useful. As we turned into the narrow dirt lane, with our windows rolled down, I waved. A few people hanging out at the palm-frond-covered bus stop waved back. A guy smiled. "Good," we thought. It was slow going because months of rain had washed away both sides of the road up to the paved area. Our slow pace gave us the chance to call out "buenos días" to people standing outside their homes and the school. It's important to let anyone controlling the streets know who you are, and to connect with friends who recognize you. It's also just more fun to be those crazy, friendly, smiling Lutherans.   The paved area gave way to ro...