09/13/2026
You know I am agnostic, but here in the USA—and especially in New Mexico—religion permeates every aspect of society.
My friends invite me to attend services at the Presbyterian church; they all know I am not a believer, yet they always welcome me warmly and with great open-mindedness.
This morning, I wrote the following text, and here is the translation:
“I would like us to pray for our country and for all of us. Yesterday, as is my habit, I went for a walk in the hills with my dog, Hopi;
yet, knowing I would be coming here this morning, I found myself reflecting on what we have become—and on why we remain deaf and blind to what the Bible has been teaching us for two thousand years.
In Genesis chapter 5, Noah stood alone against the rest, aware that violence and corruption would bring about the Flood. Today, the violence we inflict upon nature, combined with minds corrupted by our insatiable thirst for consumption, is spawning a climate crisis whose catastrophic effects we are already witnessing. We are both guilty and victims, and yet we prefer to keep listening to those who lull us with deceptive illusions.
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In Exodus chapter 32, the episode of the Golden Calf shows us that attachment to material goods leads us astray from our spiritual quest. Fascinated by all that glitters, we have become utterly dependent on compulsive shopping and the accumulation of useless objects. Yet, for two thousand years, the Bible has warned us that this leads to our ruin...
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As I continued on my way, pondering our power and our arrogance, the story of David and Goliath (from 1 Samuel 17) came to mind;
I shuddered at the thought that every giant has feet of clay, and that our power ought to inspire greater wisdom and humility in us if we wish to avoid suffering profound humiliation one day.
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So As I approached the crest of the hills, gazing out at the peaceful Chimayó Valley and the small Good Shepherd Church, images of the Gaza Strip suddenly flashed before my eyes.
In that same region of the world—in Bethlehem, 2,027 years ago—the Bible recounts (in Matthew 15:16–18) the Massacre of the Innocents, ordered by King Herod to preserve his power in the face of the arrival of a future king named Jesus. Estimates suggest that Herod’s soldiers killed, at most, between six and twenty children. Yet, since October 2023, it is estimated that more than 40,000 children have been killed by the Israeli army, with half of them remaining buried beneath the rubble of bombed buildings. Have we lost our souls?
Can we live in peace without imagining the heavy price we will pay for our silence—or even our complicity—regarding this crime, which will remain etched in the collective memory of peoples just as enduringly as that of King Herod?
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As I made my way down toward my home, stumbling over the stones on the path, I remembered being struck as a child by a painting by Bruegel the Elder: *The Parable of the Blind*. It depicted a blind man leading other blind men toward the abyss—a 16th-century work itself inspired by the Bible (Matthew 15:14).
That is why, this morning, I would like us to pray that we all open our eyes, and that the Bible—present everywhere here—does not remain merely an object of devotion, but teaches us that we are free to choose the best paths for our own destinies, as well as for those of our country and our planet.”
