New Mexico has the slogan, LAND OF ENCHANATMENT, on their vehicle plates. The state of Yucatan Old Mexico deserves a similar slogan. It is also mostly flat with few lakes and rivers. However, almost every town and village have a cenote. These pools of fresh water occur when rainwater is filtered through layers of limestone until they collapse forming nature’s well. The most famous cenote is the one at Chichen Itza, a popular tourist destination. This is where human sacrifices were once made to the rain god Chac. It has nasty, green-colored water and is a stark contrast to the clean, blue waters of Dzibilchaltun (zee-bill-chall-tune) where I went swimming with some of my Mayan brethren. At that time Jimmy Gospelseed was only a vague idea in the back of my mind. Nevertheless, I saw a curious metaphor for the Christian life there. The first cenote was like the sinful, ugly life that many people choose (Rom 6:23) and he second is like the life that Christ offers to those who love and obey Him (Acts 2:38). The fate of the unrepentant sinner will be like sacrificed victims of Chichen Itza (Heb 10:27). Whereas those in Christ will be surrounded by beauty calm and delight like the swimmer at Dzibilchaltun.
There are so many other enchanting places in Yucatan, and I feel that my life was touched and changed by them as I grew towards becoming Jimmy Gospelseed. However, the real enchantment was the wonderful Mayan people. I will talk at length about them later.
El Castillo is the 100 feet pyramid at Chichen Itza which can be climbed by tourists. It has very narrow steps, but there is a huge chain going from top to bottom for support. It has a jade statue of the jaguar god Chac Mool in an inner chamber at the top. During the equinoxes, the shadows rise and fall along the steps and simulate a moving serpent. Darlene and I also visited a newly discovered pyramid at Ek Balam (shining star) which was only about half uncovered.
In some ways the Christian walk is like a pyramid. We start with a solid base with the, “...elementary truths of God’s word...” (Heb 5:12. Then we start building the stones and, “...go on to maturity” (Heb 6:1). The journey can be scary with narrow steps (Satan’s temptations), yet we have a firm chain to grasp in the Holy Spirit (Eph 3:16). We have an inner chamber (our heart) in which the Godhead dwells (Jo 14:23) (Rom 8:9). At the top of our spiritual pyramid is the heavenly throne of the Godhead. We worship them in spirit and truth as our spiritual sacrifice Jo 4:24) (Php4:18) (Rom 12:1). Jimmy’s hope is that he can help seekers find this eternal home. -Jim Bailey
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