Many years ago, when my wife and I were pastors of a congregation in
I still remember many of those meetings at one of the less attractive places of the building, and I see the basement room next to the furnace as a symbol of how little value was given to us even by those who spoke every week in the name of God.
Because we were few and we had little or no money, and we spoke Spanish, we were relegated to the basement of the church, next to the closet where the janitor kept all his cleaning supplies.
It seems the sanctuary was reserved only for those of a certain skin color, with a certain financial level, and speaking a certain language. And we were not those people.
Due to several circumstances, we began to attend another congregation until years later we moved to a new neighborhood and we decided to look for a church closer to our home.
We decided to visit a church recently constructed. We entered the church and we asked for the Hispanic group. As a joke, I told my wife that the Hispanic group would probably be meeting in the basement next to the furnace room. Unfortunately, it was not a joke.
Fifteen years after my first experience of being sent to the basement, and in spite of all the growth in the Hispanic community, I discovered that once again in one of newest churches in my area Hispanics were still sent to the basement.
I sometimes wonder if the reason they were sent us to the basement is because there was no other level below the basement. Perhaps if those modern churches had catacombs, they will send to those catacombs all those unworthy to participate in the activities at the main sanctuary.
Such was the indignation my wife and I felt two years ago for that new example of disrespect to minorities that we decided to increase our efforts to help Latinos and other minorities.
As part of that commitment, we organized last week a community meeting at a church to share information about small business regulations and opportunities in
We have several dozen people attending the meeting and all the participants expressed their gratitude for the information they received. We accomplished our goals for the meeting, but I was not happy because, you guess it, the meeting was in the basement next to the furnace room.
It is time for us to get rid of all those mental structures and self-imposed limitations that have conditioned us to be sent to a life in the basement and to the basement of life.
I do not want to displace anybody who already has a place in the sanctuary of life. I just want us to occupy our own and rightful place, and nobody’s place should be in the basement.