PART 1: LIES, LIES! ALL DAMNABLE LIES! JOHN B. LOOKS BACK AT 7 1/2 YEARS OF DECEPTION

It was September of 2009, and our new president was to give his first speech to a joint session of Congress. Most Americans wished the young president well, and sincerely hoped that, as an African-American,  he could bridge the racial gap and truly "..bring us all together."  However, like a bolt of lightning, the president's speech to Congress was suddenly interrupted as Congressman Joseph Wilson of South Carolina cried out: "You lie!" The general reaction of the moment was that Congressman Wilson was guilty of a serious breach of decorum.  However, upon reflection over the past seven years, Congressman Wilson's hastily shouted words seem to ring forth more with clairvoyance than boorishness; and, indeed,  they might even be taken as a synopsis for the disastrous presidency of Barack Hussein Obama.

On October 9, 2009, the quirky Norwegians making up the Nobel Peace prize committee made a bizarre announcement, namely that their prestigious award would be bestowed upon President Barack H. Obama. With the list of previous recipients including the likes of Rigoberta Menchu, Mother Teresa, Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Theodore Roosevelt and Willy Brandt,  many Americans scratched their heads, wondering what President Obama had accomplished in his exceedingly short career to warrant such an honor.  And, indeed, there were many who asserted that the right thing for Obama to do would be not to accept the prize and suggest to the committee that someone with more substantial credentials in promoting peace should be selected in his place.  But, of course, this did not happen, and the prize itself became a symbol of the fraud, deception and deceit of the Obama administration.

Early on, there was much ado concerning health insurance, with all sorts of statistics bandied about. Indeed, most Americans could agree that our healthcare system needed some fine tuning, especially when it came to the portability of policies and coverage being available for preexisting conditions. Coupled with the assertion that the average family would save $2500 annually and that one could keep the doctors that one had previously relied on, support for this area of change began to build. The hoped for savings seemed to go along with President Obama's campaign promise to take on the growing national debt.  And, even more impressive, the promise was made that all proposed  major changes would be debated in open and transparent forums, perhaps even using CSPAN  as a medium to keep all Americans informed.

A story frequently told with regard to the government takeover of healthcare was that the president's own mother, Stanley Ann Dunham, died as a result of not having coverage for a preexisting condition. Subsequently, it was found out that Ms. Dunham did indeed have total coverage for her terminal condition but, instead, was turned down when she applied for disability status.

It was repeatedly stated by President Obama that not one dime of funds associated with Obamacare would ever go toward funding abortions, yet by 2016 there exist 1,036 medical plans signed, sealed and delivered through the auspices of the Obama administration that cover abortions and a multitude of birthcontrol pharmaceuticals.  Consequently, the administration has placed in the cross-hairs of the Department of Justice such entities as the Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order devoted to serving the indigent elderly, but whose deeply held religious convictions prohibit providing abortion and birth control coverage for any personnel employed by the order.

An issue that is especially troubling for those of us who live along the southern border is illegal immigration.  Despite not working to provide adequate funding and support for effective border control, President Obama announced in 2009 that he simply did not have the authority to undertake immigration reform by himself. Consequently, thousands of illegal aliens have continued to storm the border and to scatter to locations throughout the United States.  However, by early 2015, the administration was singing a different tune, as it was announced that by executive action more than 5 million illegal immigrants would be exempt from deportation. Federal District Judge Andrew Hannen in Brownsville, Texas, announced that the administration had exceeded its authority and placed an injunction on any plans to stymie immigration law in this regard.  Subsequently, in 2016, the Supreme Court upheld Judge Hannen's action.  This is at least one area in which illegal executive action did not stand.

A point of pride early in the Obama administration was a 780- billion-dollar stimulus package, which was designed to ameliorate the effects of the great recession.  Integral to stimulating the anemic economy were "shovel-ready" projects providing immediate employment for out-of-work Americans.  Looking back, there were never any shovel-ready projects and certainly no shovel-ready jobs. In subsequent interviews, the president admitted as much that all the talk about shovel-ready was much ado about nothing.  Certainly, there were no programs in this administration that remotely came close to the WPA, CWA or CCC of the New Deal.  As a Mexican colloquialism has it:  "No burros, mas helotes!"

Lobbyists, lobbyists and more lobbyists!  And with them comes the metastasizing  cancer of K Street influence.  Certainly, Americans were impressed when Senator Obama announced that if he became president he would not take one thin dime from lobbyists and would not allow any of them to serve in his administration.  But, at last count, there were 12 former lobbyists holding high-level jobs in the administration.  And, all the while, Congressional big shots like Harry Reid and Roy Blunt continue racking up fortunes from influence peddling and placing their children in choice lobbying positions.  And all  those dollars, to borrow a line from Evita, keep  come rolling on in!

How often we have heard President Obama inveigh against the influence of foreign money on American elections!  And, if you believe American politicians do not take advantage of deep foreign pockets, then you've got another think coming.  There is no doubt that foreign funds have flowed into the Obama campaign coffers, and a prime example would be Mexican money streaming from the world's second richest person, Carlos Slim. But, you may say, how could it be that Slim would be able to bypass FEC regulations and distribute his largesse into grimy political hands?  It's simple. Slim and his telecommunications empire have a virtual lock on the so-called "Obama phones," which are distributed to needy people in the U.S., where they are sold as "TracFones."   So all that need be done is to get the money into the hands of American executives running the TracFone/Obamaphone sales operation, and they do the rest.

In 2009, President Obama, on the eve of his Middle East trip, announced that America is the ".. number-1 Muslim nation."  In a 2014 interview with a French journalist, he described our country as a Muslim country.  No, no, no, Mr. President! I lived and worked for 6 years in a Muslim country, and this is not one - at least not yet!  God forbid that we ever become a Muslim nation!  During my excursion into life in the Islamic world, I saw women oppressed, homosexuality criminalized, censorship imposed, religious freedom nonexistent and the brutality of Shariah law implemented on a wide scale.  Perhaps this man's words explain his hesitancy to call a spade a spade, and place the blame for acts of terrorism on everyone but the actors and the religious motivations which drive them. And it is for certain that we all feel much more secure with individuals such as Arif Alikham, Mohamed Elibiary, Salam al-Marayati and Mohamed Magid shaping policy at the Department of Homeland Security and directly advising the President of the United States in lengthy meetings.

Without a doubt, all Muslims are not terrorists, but the great majority of terrorists are Muslims of one stripe or another. In the U.S., Muslims now make up 1.3% of the population, that is to say somewhat over 4 million adherents, but they account for nearly 60% of religiously inspired acts of terrorism. And, with that 1.3% figure, Muslims make up over 9% of individuals incarcerated in state and federal prisons.  Come off it, Mr. President, your intransigence in this regard puts lives in jeopardy!

The Obama administration has consistently tried to claim that Operation Fast and Furious, the infamous AFT gun-walking scheme, which took both Mexican and American lives, was begun during the Bush administration.  It was palpable that former AG Eric Holder was engaged in a cover-up from the word go, but bereaved families have never had their pain laid to rest, owing to a continuing effort to obscure the truth. Instead President Obama continues to excoriate legitimate, law-abiding American gun owners in his push to further empower the government to emasculate the Second Amendment.

The foregoing has been a mere smidgen of the extensive catalog of lies, deceptions and distortions that have wounded this country of ours to its very core. Those who seek the truth merely through the official pablum of this administration see only through a glass darkly.

In subsequent editions, John B. will seek to explore further the duplicitous politics of the Obama years.

Deo Vindice!

John B. has been a dean, instructor and provost through his 40 plus years in higher education. 

Retired, he now resides in Brownsville, Texas, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he lectures on Mexican history, culture and politics.

CHRISTIANITY: THE WORLD'S MOST PERSECUTED RELIGION

Yea, all who will live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.  2 Timothy 3:12

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,  for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Matthew 5:10

YOUNG IRAQI CHRISTIANS AWAIT THEIR FATE

Just before Christmas, I became aware that the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, well known for its beheading of those it considers infidels and enemies of Islam, had  resorted to beheading small children coming from Christian families. Indeed, seeking to intimidate and to announce to the world its determination to establish a new caliphate, these Muslim extremists have been brazen in broadcasting through cyberspace photographs and videos of their gory genocide against non-Muslims .

During my six years of living in the Middle East, I was of the opinion  that I had experienced persecution from having to worship secretly in a land which prohibited the practice of all faiths but Islam.  In fact, I even went so far as to liken my experience to that of early Christians worshiping in the catacombs.  However, that part of my life was nothing in comparison to the lives of at least 200,000,000 Christians in the world, who must daily contend with discrimination and the possibility of violence, rape and even death.

In places such as Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, it is a normal, everyday occurrence for the authorities to threaten, beat and extort money from Christians.  In Pakistan, a country into which the United States has poured billions of dollars of aid, Christians may be - and have been - charged with "blasphemy," an offense which can result in the death penalty.

Many years ago, I made my first visit to Egypt.  During that trip, I visited the neighborhood in Cairo where the Holy Family had reputedly sought refuge during the early childhood of the Christ-child.  Along a small alleyway, I was approached by a Copt, an Egyptian Christian, who sought to engage me in conversation, speaking of the many ways Egyptian Christians were discriminated against, including economic, educational and housing discrimination.  I also learned how fanatics from the Muslim Brotherhood thought nothing of waylaying Christians, kidnapping their daughters and burning churches.  As an American, I had previously been unaware of what Christians in the Muslim world were subjected to.  Sadly, most Americans today are still unfamiliar with the ongoing story of the oppression and persecution of Christians.

Christians, who formed a majority population in the Middle East long before Islam burst upon the scene in the 7th century, are now dwindling ever closer to extinction.  In Bethlehem there are only a few thousand Christians remaining.  Before the defeat of Sadam Hussein, there were approximately 1.2 million Christians in Iraq; now that number, daily subjected to the depredations of Islamic extremists, has fallen below 200,000.  Soon, the region in which the gospel of Christ was first proclaimed will be completely devoid of Christians.

As a regular church-goer, I often ask myself why it is that I cannot remember hearing  a sermon preached on persecution. Could it perhaps be that the 21st century church in America has so bought into the present mindset of not giving offense that such sermons would be considered taboo? Quite frankly, I do not consider it a priority not to offend those I consider offensive, especially after seeing pictures of persecuted and mutilated Christian children.  More Americans, in fact, need to learn of the child martyrs in Iraq who refused to renounce their faith, choosing instead to face death at the hands of Muslim criminals.

It has become increasingly tiresome hearing individuals in high places reciting their litany of exoneration for Islam, propagandizing that the increasing numbers of atrocities and persecutions of Christians have nothing to do with the "real Islam."  Nothing could be further from the truth, and it is an historical fact that, throughout the entire time of its existence, Islam has consistently shown an aggressive stance against Christians and other religious groups. Even in the United States statistics show that, of all religious groups represented, Islam has the highest percentage of adherents who have been involved in violent acts.  

How many American Christians are capable of matching the bravery of child martyrs in Iraq and Syria?  Would I? Could I?  These are hard questions, but questions, nevertheless, that have great relevance for 21st century Christians. 

SATAN UNLEASHED: CHARLIE HEBDO AND MUSLIM GUNMEN

WOUNDED FRENCH POLICEMAN BEGS FOR HIS LIFE

This morning's photographs from Paris graphically illustrated the essence of Islam, a 15th century system of thought control which seeks to determine every action of its adherents' lives, leaving absolutely no room for individuality or freedom of expression.

That a satirical newspaper in a Western democracy was attacked and eleven journalists and two gendarmes were killed is unacceptable under any circumstances.  To say that the attackers were merely extremists entirely misses the point, for a mere cursory reading of the Koran reveals that Islam is a so-called religion which exhorts violence against those who are not in agreement with its aims and aspirations.

From the vantage point this side of the Atlantic, it is apparent that Europe has opted for mass suicide by admitting millions of Muslims, the vast majority of whom have no understanding or appreciation of the societies that have developed from Western civilization that have chosen to allow them entry into their midst. It is nothing short of unbelievable that 14% of French citizens now consider themselves adherents of Islam.  And, in neighboring Belgium, the most popular name chosen for baby boys is Mohamed.

As a Christian, I am appalled by journalism or cartoons that lampoon Christ; however, as an American who takes the First Amendment seriously, I realize that such an possibility is the price of living in a free society.  For Muslims, there is no corresponding support for freedom of expression.  

MUSLIM GUNMEN STRIKE CHARLIE HEDBO

During the six years in which I lived in a Muslim country, censorship was the name of the game.  Whenever the opportunity presented itself, Bibles were confiscated and Western magazines that came into the country were heavily censored, with pages ripped from their bindings and any pictures deemed blasphemous blotted out.  Foreign Christians who were apprehended worshiping together were expelled, and Muslims who converted to Christianity were executed.

A conservative estimate would have it that there are at least 300 million Muslims out of a world total of 1.5 billion who would like nothing better than to see Islam victorious in Europe and North America.  That would amount to a far greater population than that of the Axis nations during World War II and would approximate the numbers of Russians and satellite peoples controlled by the USSR during the Cold War.

It is time to wake up from the multicultural and politically correct pipe-dream that all peoples and cultures are equal and may be assimilated into Western democracies.  Would we have allowed Nazis to purvey their poison openly in America during World War II?  And yet, in 21st century America, we refuse to see that Islam is at war against us.  I cringe when I consider that probably tomorrow left-wing journalists and assorted talking heads will blame Charlie Hebdo for the massacre that decimated its staff and took the lives of two gendarmes.  After all, they maligned the prophet and his bogus religion.

JOSE MARIA MORELOS: A PERILOUS DIVIDE IN MEXICAN HISTORY

One of the most intriguing figures of Mexico's revolution against Spain was Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, who was at one and the same both revolutionary and traditional in his political thought. Although this dichotomy would not be perplexing for Morelos and those who followed him into battle, it would prove to be a negative element in Mexican history during both the 19th and 20th centuries.

Born a poor mestizo in 1765 in Valladolid - the city which in 1826 would be renamed Morelia in his honor - Morelos at an early age went to work on his uncle's ranch, where he learned the skills of a vaquero.  Acquiring discipline and a solid work ethic from this experience, Morelos also developed a love of Spanish grammar and dreamed of someday furthering his studies.

Eventually, devotion and financial hardship joined to lure Morelos into the priesthood, and he entered the College of San Nicolas in Valladolid.  At San Nicolas, Morelos would find a mentor and role model in Padre Miguel Huidalgo y Costilla, the deanof the college, who encouraged him to continue his studies in theology at the local seminary.

After graduation and ordination, Morelos was assigned to a poor parish in the unhealthy lowlands of Michoacan.  There he not only ministered to the spiritual needs of his flock but also oversaw the construction of a new church which became the pride of the region, and he also encouraged the members of his parish to acquire skills in various trades to support themselves.

By 1810 Morels had become aware that Padre Hidalgo had initiated hostilities against Spain in the Bajio. That same year, in a meeting with his old mentor,  Morelos was given command of revolutionary operations in the south, with the understanding that he had sole responsibility for raising and sustaining his army.

Capturing the imagination and loyalty of the people of southern Mexico, Morelos led a guerrilla movement that seized sufficient Spanish armaments to outfit an army, with which he would prove that he was a born general.  Relying on the military treatises of Frederick the Great of Prussia,  Morelos put together a well trained and highly disciplined force, in which his most trusted lieutenants were mestizo vaqueros.  This force took control of most of southern Mexico, including Oaxaca as well as Acapulco and Taxco.  Morelos and his army would carry on the revolutionary struggle after the capture and execution of Padre Hidalgo in 1811.

For three years, Morelos continued the fight against Spain.  During that time, he also labored to provide Mexico with a constitution.  By 1813, the Congress of Chilpancingo was convened. Although Morelos was an enthusiastic supporter of the congress and its task of drafting a constitution, the effort to guarantee its security with the army proved to be a military drawback.

As a political thinker, Morelos, like Hidalgo, had delved deeply into European thought of the 17th and 18th centuries.  He was also aware of the new American republic developing north of the Rio Bravo.  And, as a mestizo, he had definite ideas about the end of slavery, inequitable taxes and obligatory labor.  He was, though, a fervent Mexican Catholic who combined liberal ideology with conservative Catholic principles.

One of the rationalizations for the Revolution was that the Spanish Bourbon monarch Ferdinand VII had been displaced from the Spanish throne by the Napoleonic wars.  Morelos, accordingly, saw Ferdinand as a figurehead who might evdentually become a constitutional monarch, through whom ties with Spain might be maintained.  However, as events progressed, Morelos became more and more convinced that Mexico should be governed as a liberal republic.  But, as an ordained priest, Morelos was also of the opinion that such a republic should be a Christian (Catholic) republic.

During the 18th century, the crown had expelled the Jesuits and had been steadily eliminating many of the prerogatives and privileges of the Church.  Among the privileges of the 13,000 clerics in Mexico at the end of the 18th century were immunity from secular justice and the right to acquire large parcels of land from donations of the wealthy.  For Morelos,  despite his liberalism, it was essential that such privileges should be restored to the Church.

By late 1813, the military fortunes of Morelos began to turn, due to the successes of Spanish commanders Calleja and Iturbide.  However, in October of 1814, a final draft of a document called the Constitution of Chilpancingo was completed.  Although Morelos was overjoyed that the long-awaited constitution had been finalized, the document did not contain all the elements of government that he had hoped for.  Owing to its never having been implemented, the constitution was never considered legitimate.

Shortly thereafter, the revolutionary army of the south was forced into a battle in which the odds were decidedly lopsided.  In the aftermath of defeat, Morelos was captured and underwent both secular and ecclesiastical trials, which resulted in excommunication, removal from the priesthood and a sentence of death.  At the end of 1814, Morelos was executed by firing squad on an old estate of the viceroys near the village of San Cristobal Ecatepec.  The Congress of Chilpancingo was disbanded, but the surviving revolutionary leaders closest to Morelos were fighting Spain until independence came in 1821.

From the short-lived emperorship of Augustin Iturbide during the early years of independence, through the War of the Reform of the 1850's, the French intervention in the 1860's , the Revolution of 1810, the Cristero movement of the 1920's and the formation and development of modern Mexican political parties, the legacy of Jose Maria Morelos has remained a consistent quandary as to how the intense religious conviction of a nation that is perhaps more fervently Roman Catholic than any other county in the world could be reconciled with an enlightened, liberal and forward-looking government.  This dilemma has been a negative force in the fulfillment of of the ideals of the Mexican Revolution, and is still a factor to be considered in contemporary Mexican politics.

THE RETURN

Our return trip was long and uneventful, lacking the interesting stops that had marked the Missouri to Mexico leg.  I found myself lapsing into a reverie in which my mind was almost exclusively focused on Mexico and how different its culture was from my own.  Even at that young age, I was certain that what I had seen in Mexico was unique in terms of its contrast to the Anglo culture of which I was a part.

I also found myself wondering what forces in history were responsible for making Mexico such an incredibly interesting country and yet, at the same time, such a difficult place to understand..  Little did I know at the time that I was on the verge of a journey that would lead into decades of pondering the the dynamics of history and how various cultures are accordingly aligned and differentiated.  Could it be, I thought, that history is nothing more than blind chance that established the cultural parameters that I found so interesting?  But, somehow, that did not satisfy me,  as I concluded that there had to be much more to account for cultural differences and their consequences for nations, societies and civilizations.

Although I could not realize it at the time, I was in effect embarking on an effort to understand history as something much more profound than the rote memorization and recitation of names, battles, governments, dates and assorted events.  In reality, I was yearning to get at basic causes and effects.

The history classes I was required to take in secondary school were totally unsatisfying, although I was able to excel grade-wise.  My only consolation was my best friend, who today is an honored emeritus professor of history in a state university.  Our mutual interests enabled us to delve more deeply in the meaning of history than was possible through the prescribed syllabuses of the public schools.

Looking back, I see now that my curiosity would lead me to the smorgasbord of historical interpretations and explanations, eventually propelling me into undergraduate and graduate programs in history and compelling me to seek a career in higher education.  On the way, I attempted to apply a myriad of schools of thought to my understanding of history in general and of Mexico in particular.

By my second year of college, I thought I could best see history as the working out of a divine plan, that the prime mover was a source of will that determined what would be the outcome of human history and how mankind would be affected by what was basically inscrutable.

Later I would be impressed with the idea that history was an organic process,  a macrocosm of the life-force driving human beings through the endless challenges of existence.  But, then, I wondered about the effects of the talents, ambitions and drive of solitary individuals who were themselves engines in moving history.  Indeed, the power of individuals to affect the course of history is endlessly replicated to the point that some would say that those who have been seen as gods and goddesses on this earth may be accounted for as being humans who performed great deeds somewhere in the mists of time, ensuring their immortality and eventual deification.

In rhythm there is point and counterpoint.  The same principles could be said to hold sway in the  constant clashing of ideas, religions, ideologies and economic forces that have been present in the ongoing march of history.  In this regard, the essence of history could be seen as a universal cycle that repeats itself almost mechanically in multiple settings and times.

I considered, also, if explanation could not be forthcoming by a strict recounting of natural phenomena and how human beings and their undertakings might have been fundamentally affected by climatic changes and such natural occurrences as droughts, hurricanes, floods, ice ages, famines, glaciation, and desertification.  Indeed, history is full of the waxing and waning of human progress over thousands of years owing to such forces.

I would, in succeeding years, equate names with ideas and fill my mind with the likes of Burke, Braudel, Ortega, Ranke, Toynbee, Marx, Thucydides, Seneca, Lucretius, Carlyle, Kirk, Kant,  Diamond, Voltaire, Croece, Vico, Machiavelli and others.  However, in retrospect,I feel it is safe to say that  I would never had familiarity with such names and ideas if it had not been for a trip into Mexico that a twelve-year-old took with his father.

IV. A LONG-LIVED FASCINATION WITH MEXICO: THE CONSEQUENCES OF JOSE'S INSTRUCTION

To say that my brief time with our guide Jose was an eye-opener would be an understatement, for he set the wheels of my twelve-year-old brain turning as they had never turned before.  In effect, my very brief first visit to Mexico had turned out to be a cultural epiphany, opening up new ways of viewing people and their histories.  In the course of our dialog, it occurred to me that in order to understand people as they grouped themselves into nations and cultures, I had to know not only their chronological histories, but also their forms of expression, both physical and spiritual, and what the sum total of their various experiences produced in terms of shared identities.

As for the Virgin of Guadalupe, she came to occupy a substantial portion of my imagination, for even them I was drawn toward mystery and how the imagination might reveal areas of truth untouched by what I would later learn to call empirical inquiry.  For the time being, the Lady of Guadalupe became my passport for initial entry into the Mexican psyche, affording me a glimpse into what it meant to be "Mexican."

I would find my boundaries greatly expanded a year and a half later, when I was fortunate to encounter a young fellow history traveler who would prove to be my best friend through high school and college.  After spending his initial school years at Sacred Heart School in Poplar Bluff, my friend made the transition to the public junior high school, where his inquiring mind and efforts to probe more deeply beyond the cursory teaching of history that passed as education at that time enabled me to quickly identify him as a kindred spirit.  It was through my friendship with him that I would learn of other Marian apparitions that had occurred in scattered venues across the globe. Being consequently somewhat better informed, I began the process of of placing the Virgin of Guadalupe in historical context, an ongoing process which continues to this day.

It is for certain that my friend and I were seen as being somewhat odd for that time in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.  What especially set us apart from our contemporaries, I think, were our lunchtime discussions on such topics as the toppling of the Mohamed Mossadegh government in Iran, the CIA-backed coup against the Arbenz government in Guatemala, the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the progress of the Cuban fighters in the Sierra Madre against the Batista regime.  Our junior high acquaintances  who habitually had lunch with us at Nick's Steel Grill in downtown Poplar Bluff never tired of referring to us as "eggheads." 

Our final full day in Monterrey would be a Sunday.  Ever the stickler for regular church attendance, my father located a Protestant chapel nearby our hotel.  Although the language of the service was, of course, Spanish,  I very much enjoyed the choir and the congregational singing of hymns.  I also recall that we were warmly greeted by the pastor and members of the congregation.

Since the next day would be a long day of driving,  Dad decided that the remainder of Sunday would be devoted to rest and relaxation.  In that spirit, we had an early dinner and by 7 PM, my father had retired to his bed.  It was then that I engaged in an act of filial disobedience that I would not admit of for nearly twenty years.

At the onset of my father's snoring, I quietly slipped out of our room and made for the nearby main plaza.  It was soon dark and, as I sat by myself, I became a keen observer of what was transpiring. There was a musical group of students performing,  but what most drew my attention were ongoing processions around the plaza, one of young men and the other of young women, each going in opposite directions.  It did not take me long to discern that those doing the processing were ogling each other, while older ladies seated on the sidelines were serving as chaperones. I would later learn that the older ladies were called "duenas" and that what I had observed was a courting ritual called the "paseo."

By 10 PM I had returned to the Ancira and, as unobtrusively as possible, managed to get into my bed without waking my father, who never expected that his son had been out and about.  I did not fall asleep immediately.  Instead I mulled over my experience of the last three days.  Finally, concluding that Mexico was a far different place than Poplar Bluff, I fell into a deep sleep from which I awoke at 7 AM the next morning.

In all the years that have gone by, I have never wavered from my youthful conclusion.  Mexico is, indeed, a very different place.  In fact, I would be hard-pressed to name two countries sharing common borders that are as different as Mexico and the United States.  It is that dissimilarity that was observed by a twelve-year-old boy some sixty years ago that has continued to account for my fascination with the land that lies to the south of the Rio Grande.

A LONG-LIVED FASCINATION WITH MEXICO

III.  THE TRIP:  MONTERREY

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful. By 8:30, we had been served our breakfast; and, despite my father's entreaties, I had demolished a plate full of huevos rancheros in record time. Shortly thereafter, Jose arrived at the Ancira.  Despite the prospect of an exciting itinerary, which included visits to the Cuautemoc-Moctezuma Brewery and the Government Palace, I immediately let lose a volley of questions concerning the woman in the cloak. Thankfully, I was promised by Jose that he would satisfy my curiosity during the course of the day.

At that particular stage of my life, breweries had not yet captured my fancy.  Nevertheless, I did enjoy hearing how German immigrants had arrived at the end of the 19th century and how their presence had been crucial in establishing a thriving beer industry in Monterrey.

The government palace was indeed beautiful, bespeaking well of Nuevo Leon in an architectural style that I would later learn was French-classical.  Later, in taking my knowledge of Mexican history to another level, I would understand that more than a few Mexican political exiles in the mid-19th century passed their banishments in France, where they were imbued with appreciation for French culture, including French architecture, which they tended to copy after their return to Mexico.

Finally, after leaving the Government Palace, I was able to impress upon Jose my keenness to commence learning about the lady whose likenesses I had seen throughout Monterrey.  Thus began my introduction to the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Jose proved to be a patient teacher who enlightened me on the Spanish conquest, emphasizing how indigenous cultures and religions had been devastated by the Conquistadors.  With my father's approval, we stopped at one of Monterrey's beautiful parks and spent at least an hour and a half listening to Jose's interpretation of early colonial Mexican history.  I was especially intrigued by his ability to explain how Mesoamerican practices had been interwoven into the Mexican expression of Spanish Catholicism and had survived in a unique syncretic form of Christianity. Moving on, Jose next led me into a biblical description of the lady whose likeness had made such a decided impression on me.

Following up on my interest of the previous day, Jose had brought with him a Spanish Bible, within which he directed my attention to the Book of Revelation and a passage which described a young woman cloaked with stars, surrounded by the rays of the sun and standing on the moon.  This was the apocalyptic description of the Holy Mother, the Mother of Christ.

Although having a passing acquaintance with the Conquest, I was not totally familiar with its chronology.  With a quick rundown, Jose took me from the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521 up to 1531, the traditional date of the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe.  He had my total attention, as he told the story of Juan Diego, an Indian peasant who had converted to Christianity, and how he had been passing Tepeyac Hill, outside the city now called Mexico, which had been erected on the ruins of Tenochtitlan.  Juan Diego, according to the story, had been on his way to mass, but heard a voice summoning him to the crest of the hill on a Saturday during the month of December.

Climbing the hill, Juan Diego encountered a beautiful young woman, before whom he bowed down in adoration.  Dressed in raiment such as that described in Revelation, the Virgin implored him to convey to Juan de Zumarraga, the Franciscan bishop of Mexico, her desire to have a chapel on the hill as a means of showing her love for her people.  Juan Diego did indeed manage to see the bishop but was turned away for having no visible proof of his story.

On the following day, Juan Diego was once again traveling in the vicinity of Tepeyac Hill, this time in search of a priest to administer last rites to his uncle.  Despite his best efforts to avoid the hill, he again heard the sweet, melodic voice of the Virgin, who told him that all would be well with his uncle and that she was not finished with the chore which she had commanded Juan Diego to undertake.

This time, the Virgin indicated that she would send Juan Diego to the bishop with a sign. Following her instructions, Juan Diego removed his "tilma," or cloak, within which the Virgin placed a bouquet of Castilian roses, a miracle in itself, as roses would not ordinarily be growing in such surroundings, especially in December.  For the second time, Juan Diego went before the bishop.  This time he unfolded his cloak and not only did the garment contain roses, but upon it there was emblazoned the image of the Virgin.  Significantly, the image presented was that of a Virgin with brown skin, very much like the complexions of the Indian populations of Mexico.

Subsequently, according to Jose, chapels were built on the hillside which came to be called Guadalupe.  The dark-skinned Virgin became the patroness of Mexico, and pilgrimages would be undertaken to honor her there, as the Virgin of Guadalupe would draw the dark-skinned masses of Mexico to a mass conversion to Catholicism.

TO BE CONTINUED