![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.scu.edu\/writeherewritenow\/files\/2011\/10\/DSCN65541.jpg\")
<\/a>Alfonso Acevedo<\/p><\/div>\n
His name was Alfonso Acevedo (everybody called him \u201cFoncho\u201d) and he was from San Ram\u00f3n. For many years he worked as a journalist for La Prensa Gr\u00e1fica. After 1978, he got\u00a0more involved with the Christian base communities, in San Ram\u00f3n, as more people were being \u201cdisappeared.\u201d\u00a0 His own brother, Miguel, was \u201cdisappeared\u201d in 1980. After that time, the persecution in the community was so bad, even the priests left the area.\u00a0 Alfonso committed to his work as a catechist and organized, with Caritas, the distribution of food, clothes and first aid to all the people in need in San Ram\u00f3n. In 1982, late at night, death squads took him out of his bed and killed him. In 1990, Centro Hogar Alfonso Acevedo was created. This organization, dedicated to children\u2019s health care and pre-school education, is a living testimony of his work.<\/p>\n
His life was remembered, a few weeks ago, during the\u00a0commemoration of his work in the barrio <\/em>of San Ramon. Children, elders, men and women, recognized this martyr of the community and the deep connection they feel with his words and deeds.\u00a0Salvadorian people often speak of Monsignor Romero, the Jesuits killed at the UCA, or Alfonso Acevedo as their martyrs.<\/p>\n Bishop Romero<\/p><\/div>\n Their lives are like seeds that the community carry forward and foster a spiritual practice deeply linked to helping this world. If you want to know more about the martyrs check this link: http:\/\/programavelasco.org\/foster-spiritual-activism?lang=en<\/a><\/p>\n After the commemoration of Alfonso\u2019s life with the San Ram\u00f3n community, I went home. I talked with Salvador, the taxi driver, during the trip. He confirmed some of the stories about the war and the thousands of martyrs that people remember every year in their communities. A life given passionately, and planted like a seed, for future generations was a powerful and hopeful image that lingered in my mind. What do we pass forward to others? I was struck by the realization that we are never a separate entity, a lonely self. \u00a0The people and the stories from our families or our country, from our culture and our spiritual life, live <\/em>through us. I wondered who my creative and spiritual ancestors were. Who are those people and the stories that breathe life into me? \u00a0I wrote this poem:<\/p>\n WHO BREATHES LIFE INTO ME Returning to the question Come back to me Writing develops awareness–Who breathes?<\/em> Spend a few minutes in meditation, in deep remembrance. You are never a separate entity, a lonely self. Who are your creative and spiritual ancestors? Who are the people that breathe life into you? What stories do you carry within you, what creative or spiritual seeds need to be born?\u00a0 Write without thinking, faster than your brain.<\/p>\n Juan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The celebration of the community was sober, but filled with devotion and remembrance. His name was Alfonso Acevedo (everybody called him \u201cFoncho\u201d) and he was from San Ram\u00f3n. For many years he worked as a journalist for La Prensa Gr\u00e1fica. … Continue reading <\/a>
\nafter the rain is over?
\nWhere are you
\namong the graceful, wet leaves?
\nWho do you shine
\nthrough the children’s eyes
\nas I walk fully noticing
\ntheir shapes, the grace
\nof their laughter,
\nthe turn of the wind
\nlightly touching
\nmy face?<\/p>\n
\nis the only answer
\nI know these days,
\nit is the only prayer
\nthat fills my every moment
\nof breath.<\/p>\n
\nin any form you choose.
\nYou who fully entering
\nmy breathing in,
\nand breathing out,
\nbelongs so completely
\nto my here and now.
\nIt is your presence
\nthat finally fills me.
\nYou who shines
\nin the infinite
\nencounter of my self
\nwith the timeless life
\nof your question.<\/p>\n