Jesus is everywhere and no more so than in Latin America. When in Mexico I was surprised at the use of near life size dolls in the catholic churches placed above the pulpit for all to focus on, usually of Jesus nailed to something and bleeding steadily. They are dolls of realism, detailed faces of pain with copious amounts of blood in case you did not know the suffering story we are told of the catholic martyr. Unaccustomed to seeing such gore in their churches an Americans first response is to offer first aid upon seeing Jesus in countries like Mexico and Guatemala.
In Guatemala, they like their Jesus prostrate and bleeding too, but the Guatemalan catholic church takes dolls to a new level with them dressed in various forms of ceremonial dress and colorful regalia -these dolls adorn both sides of the main building residing in alcoves and large recessed glass cases, each with a steel coin box for donations. Unprovable, but this traveler suspects church collections are the second oldest profession.
Churches are an interesting place to observe the people of a community and a probe of its relative and historical wealth. For most part it is a religious center and for a few including myself, a non believer, a place of respite from the noise of the city, the rain, the heat and the shoeshine boys. The church is a place where the air is tranquil -in these things I believe. On watching the class that pray, the ones who rely on prayer, I cannot help but notice that as a people they tend to pray for things they don't have: health, money and good husbands.
From the bench I sit on I can see Jesus in various forms: stabbed to a tree trunk, nailed to a cross, another of him holding a tall staff looking set to lead a procession. Others are of him laying flat in death. There are many other representations of various saints. I do not use the word statue because statues are art forms that leave something to the imagination for they are incomplete in some way. Dolls are detailed objects intended to be life like.
Unlike the understated drab catholic churches in North America those in Latin America display an unusual level of violence demonstrated through realism of Jesus at his death repleat with scaped knees, running blood, big nails and brusing. In Mexico and Guatemala the relationship with death is different than from where I come from. They have a level of comfort that stands in contrast to how North Americans deal with death and suffering.
I donate money each time I visit a church for the pleasure of visiting them, sitting still and watching the people; this time to my pleasure I deposited my money beneath a black Jesus. At the church in Coban, Guatemala if you paid homage to every doll saint and Jesus you would do the sign of the cross 19 times.
Travel Update-
I am on the Caribbean coast of Honduras, slightly east of La Miskito of the same famed Mosquito Coast and where most of your bananas come from. I will attempt what looks and is being reported as a vicious overland journey from the Caribbean coast to a remote border crossing into Nicaragua close to the Pacific Ocean. All dirt, all slow. On these kinds of nasty roads it is surprising how superstitious the driver becomes with the vehicle -in this case I hope Azuita appreciates the oil change I gave her the other week. You can go anywhere, you can do anything, if you are not in a hurry.
David
Trujillo, Honduras
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