Selection from "Lost Mission"

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither. C. S. Lewis

I felt like sharing a quote from one of my favorite fiction authors, Athol Dickson. Every book he writes is brilliant and unique. This particular selection is about a woman named Lupe who has come from her friendly but impoverished village in Mexico, and the cultural shock she encounters when she enters the U.S. A devout Christian, she believes she has recieved a call from God to save "the Anglos" and lead them to Jesus. It is a very interesting theme. He does a very good job of presenting the contrasting cultures through the eyes of Lupe and others. The small community she is from has very little in resources but is rich in many other ways, in contrast the United States in her view is impoverished in spite of all their material wealth........

When Lupe greets several people on the street and they don't respond, she is devastated. It is something she has never experienced before....Also she has just been observing a "laughing yoga" where people are faking laughter as part of therapy.

"What evil place was this, where people languished deaf to greetings, blind to neighbors, isolated in the middle of a crowd? What wicked mesmerism numbed them to the undulating glory of the sparkling sea? What devil drove them to attempt this imitation happiness, this counterfeit laughter, when the true delight of God's creation lay in all directions? Athol Dickson, Lost Mission

I recommend every one of his books......

"Holy Father," cried Lupe. "Your works are glorious, and you are beautiful beyond description!" She said it very loudly, with her face and palms raised up toward heaven. Arm in arm, a passing man and woman looked away.  Lupe, on seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time

For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation. Psalm 149:4