I have thrown exactly one authentic Mexican fiesta in my life, and it was a doozy. By "Mexican fiesta" I mean that I was actually in Mexico City with a missions team for the summer. By authentic I mean that I received a lot of help from the local citizens, so it was really more a reflection of their quality than my ability. The party planning and execution sort of took on a life of its own.
What an incredible experience! Oh the food, the decorations, the people... and top notch entertainment. We even had an authentic mariachi singer and machete dancer (that part scared me). And the whole thing happened for a budget of under $150.
Upon reflection of this party of a lifetime, I realize that the experience left me with several life lessons that I carry with me even to this day, over 20 years later.
Lesson #1- Clashing colors can be beautiful
I asked for our host family's help with decorating. Coloration and style are not my strong suits, so I hoped to receive help to find just the right colors to coordinate and harmonize in a truly authentic Mexican fashion.
A trip to the local version of party supply store opened my eyes to a new definition of style. I could not find any neatly organized patterns to help "tastefully" coordinate the decorating palate. Instead, I saw this glorious, untamed explosion of color everywhere I looked. The store must have had every conceivable shade of red on the planet.
My host proceeded to choose from among the most brightly colored items, many of which seemed to strongly clash. I asked her if we needed to think about matching the different decorations with one another. In response she looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language (which, technically, I was) and then calmly assured me that we were choosing wisely. I then realized that our goal was to get the best, happiest and brightest decorations, not to micromanage the colors.
When the decorations went up, the elements did at all not seem poorly matched. The vast range and contrast of color rather evoked these feelings of joy and festivity. What's more, the very "clashing" that I feared actually become a key factor in bringing the surroundings to life.
How often do we focus so intently on ordering and controlling life's elements that we forget to celebrate them? How often does our quest for harmony and peace really lead to disunity when we disregard the people who inconvenience us or who seem to clash with our goals and values? How often do we try to hide from life's circumstances that cause dissonance to our personal sense of comfort, when God is perfectly capable and willing to use those very trials to bring a deeper sense of joy and beauty into our lives?
Philippians 4:4 says "Rejoice in the LORD always. I will say it again. Rejoice!!!"
James 1:17 says that "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights."
That sounds like party language to me. Indeed, one of our very basic calls as Christians is to continually celebrate God's goodness.
And yet this advice seemed to clash with the experiences of it's original recipients in the early church. The writers of both James and Philippians wrote to people who faced great hardship and persecution. James 1 talks about taking joy in hardship, and Philippians 4 praises the people who share joyfully together in hardship. How can these very different colors of life match?
In Mexico, my hostess soon convinced me of her ability to bring beauty and goodness out what at first struck me as visual chaos. How much more can our Heavenly Father work every color, every person, every experience into that beautiful masterpiece of our lives? And why not celebrate that? Not only are are we called to joy. It just feels much better to practice it.
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