The Better Angels of Juarez’ Nature

I always thought glitter would play an important part in the revolution. In Juarez, Mexico members of a small church put it on their faces and their hand made wings. This is standard for for a lot of Christmas pageants but these angels aren’t about to sing in the annual cantata. They are headed downtown Juarez. What they are planning to do really puts teeth and nails in hope.

These members of a small church, many of them young people, plan to clamber up the sides of some building and pause on street corners with signs of hope, literal signs. One could call it a flash mob but they have been doing this for months and they spend a fair amount of time there every saturday, so I guess its more like a glow mob. Seems right for angels.

Juarez is one of the cities riddled with the violence of drug cartels that have taken over sections of Mexico. It is that violence that these angeles are there to fight. Their signs call for peace, forgiveness, and the end to the corruption that sustains these cartels. What they are doing is not, what most people would call, safe. It does, however, ask for peace in a peaceful way. Not doing anything is also dangerous. These folks roll the dice on hope.

This small group of people act as if what they do matters, which may be a big secret for people who want to matter. These are the people that build hope from the ground up. In silence they shout hope from the rooftops. One might even say they give it wings.

I have often thought the most powerful protests are committing acts of faith in public.

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