Leo has had a hard week. Or more like a series of hard weeks. She hasn’t been sleeping well since December, when her teen-aged daughter Teresa started feeling like she couldn’t breathe at night. Leo would rub Teresa’s chest and stay up with her, as the daughter was terrified that she was dying. She said she felt like her soul was leaving her body. She felt perfectly fine during the day, but was too scared to even attempt sleeping at night.
The family tried everything they could think of. They called the witchdoctor to treat her, but her fear persists. My co-worker gave the family candles to light at night, since the daughter is too scared when it’s dark. Afraid of the dark, afraid of the spirits, afraid of her breath being stolen, afraid of dying…
Leo’s other daughter Simplicity has said, “Sometimes I’m so afraid that I can’t even bear it. I’m afraid to the point of shaking all over.”
Fear is a constant companion to the Nahuatl and absence of fear stands out dramatically. It is standing out a great deal in the life of Agustina, the first believer in Las Moras. People want to know why she’s not afraid of the spirits, of dying, of rainbows, of the thunder, and of the dark. She said, “I used to sleep ‘aware’, you know? Every little thing would wake me up in fear. But now, I just sleep.”
Pray for Agustina’s continued testimony of the “peace that passes understanding” by a community whose lives are ruled by fear. Pray for Leo’s family: that her daughter would find a measure of peace to sleep for the time being, but most importantly that their family would find true peace for eternity.