Continuing Lessons in Ephesians

Bill and I go to Mexico every February for a month. For years, we have rented places around Melaque or one of the nearby towns. It is a place of peace and rest for us. I have fibromyalgia, and it is particularly bad in February, so it is nice to get some respite from the cold and the muscle pain it brings.

The minute we get off the plane at the Manzanillo airport, get hit with hot, humid air, and walk across the tarmac toward the 

Teri Burch

smallish terminal, we feel stress melt away. We have gone often enough to know the routine of the customs line: ​Hand over the paper we filled out on the plane, walk past the food sniffing dog (yes, the dog checks for food and you have to throw it out if caught with a breakfast burrito or some such thing), find our luggage and try our luck at entering the country. There is a button you push for your group. If it turns green, you go through and into the main room to find a taxi, and ‘whoosh’ you are on your way to your apartment. But if it turns red, you have your luggage scanned and searched. We got green this time.

We love the nature and quirks of Melaque. The nature is the flora and fauna of palm trees, flowering trees, the plants, the ocean, the mountains, the birds, the iguanas, and the heat. The quirks are quirks to us because we are used to federal safety codes and clean water. There isn’t much risk anymore because clean water is available by the bottle or a big jug for your living habitat.

There are other risks to being in Mexico: the crazy traffic, for one, but this is also where the cartel is rumored to be alive but invisible, until this year. This year, we made plans to go on a day trip to see a salt mine in Cihuatlan, take a boat ride through a lagoon, and then a little further on to see where they raise sea turtles and release the hatchlings. We did not get very far before traffic was stopped and backed up at a bridge where we had to turn to go toward Manzanillo. This road is important because it is the only way to get to the airport and the city.

The tour group we were with all thought there must have been a wreck. It didn’t take long for the guide to learn that a cartel in Jalisco called the New Generation had stopped a bus, told the people on the bus to get off and leave, and then set the bus on fire.  We decided to turn around and try again later in the week. When we got back to Melaque, we learned about the death of the leader and the chaos that ensued. We were told to shelter in place and be careful to discern where we get our information. Rumors run rampant. We did as we were told. Shops closed, schools closed, and grocery stores closed. Within a few days things opened up a bit, but we still do not go out at night. This is the season of Carnival for the town. We have learned it can get pretty rowdy, so we are careful when we go to the city center to see the action.

This cartel is at war with the police and another cartel located in Colima, and it will rear its ugly head. They won’t hunt tourists down because we are one of these small towns’ sources of income. However, we don’t want to get hurt because we were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So where am I in all of this? Power, money and sex can corrupt. I am blessed to live in the USA. But there is corruption here, too. The cartels in Mexico and the gangs in the USA prey on the poor. They promise money and power. The corrupt prey on the poor. I recommend we take a stand. In Ephesians it says we need to change to: speak the truth, demonstrate peace, encourage, forgive, use self-control, and keep in God’s Spirit. 

I am blessed, and I know it. I love God, and He knows it. I love my neighbor and the immigrants who may need our help. We give to help those whose life circumstances are different from ours.

In His Name, Teri