What Does Spain Need?

 My hubby is actually contributing to the blog!!  He told me he wanted to write something about his experience this weekend and he gave me first dibs on putting it out on the world wide web.  I feel so special.  Ha!

“It’s the economy, stupid.”

These words changed the political landscape in an American presidential campaign when I was growing up. I couldn’t help but recall this when, on election day in Spain, I rode the escalators out of the metro onto the crowded square at Puerto del Sol in Madrid where thousands had camped out the past week to protest the economy. I strolled around the make-shift, tent town that had been built on this tourist location, complete with mess hall, sleeping quarters, lounging areas, sign-making station, and even a place for childcare.

Every inch was taken up by placards and signs promoting any and every cause that might be important to a nation facing 21 percent unemployment (45% among youth).

 As I looked into the eyes of many, I could see anger, disillusionment and what I can only describe as apathetic rebellion. I don’t believe many truly understood why they were there. They just simply knew something was wrong, and they wanted to stand up against it.

Just a few days before, I experienced a totally different reality in another Spanish city, Seville. Granted, the economy is just as bad, maybe worse. I lost count of the number of “walled off” retail spaces that I saw. And, I was told, many youth stood in protest in the main square as well. But, I spent time with others who were discovering something that penetrated deeper than the effects of the economy. They were wrestling with truths that were beginning to shake their entire world view. They were encountering the Gospel, the good news of grace and forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

My entrance into this world was quite different. I didn’t step into an open square where strangers were brought together by problems that they couldn’t solve. I walked into a two-bedroom apartment where young people were drawn in by changed lives, by truths they saw lived out at the university, at work, and at play.

 A town wasn’t being built in that small space, but a community was, a community of believers in Jesus Christ letting their faith, peace and assurances in God protest against the problems brought on by a faltering world, not just a bad economy.

 They shared this community with any and all who sought answers. Questions weren’t being averted. Truth wasn’t being defended. It didn’t have to be. Simply put, the Gospel was on display and allowed to stand on its own through the transformed and transparent lives of a few young people that have put their trust in God, not the economy.

So, as it turns out, it’s not the economy that changes lives. It’s the Gospel.