The Missionary*

The missionary wiped the sweat

That formed small beads on his sunburnt brow.

Never had he thought that learning

A language would be so hard till now.

 

But learning a language and studying a culture

So very different from his own,

Deep in the Amazonian jungle--

A damp and brutal climate zone--

 

Were challenges that he was eager

Because of his Christian faith to accept,

Even though he had to watch out

For poisonous creatures wherever he stepped.

 

His goal: to learn the language there

In order to translate the Holy Bible

So he could teach the truth as he knew it

To various peoples, godless and tribal.

 

His dual role as a servant of God

And graduate student studying linguistics

Opened his mind and heart to embrace

The people's diverse characteristics.

 

Constant threats were jaguars, insects,

And anacondas in the river,

Along with shifty river pilots

Transporting goods to trade or deliver.

 

After years of being there

And putting up with a bare subsistence,

He pondered why his ideas among

The people were met with such resistance.

 

Occurring to him suddenly

As an epiphany, he had to face

The fact that maybe he had been

Peddling his goods in the wrong place.

 

Why did he need to fix the people?

They were fine just as they were.

If he tried to change their beautiful

Way of life, what would occur?

 

They had faith in themselves and lived

Without worry, fear, or despair.

He was imposing his own concept

Of truth on them. How unfair!

 

Questioning his own ideas,

He clarified his own confusion

And saw that life without absolutes

Was one way to see through delusion.

 

How ironic! He'd gone to Brazil

With good intentions, though smug and prim,

To try to convert the people there;

They, however, converted him.

 

-by Bob B (12-3-17)

*Inspired by the experiences of Daniel L. Everett