I was born in Mogarraz (1940), a town nestled in the heart of the Sierra de Francia (Salamanca). An original toponym, based on an Arabic triliteral meaning “a place fertile due to its waters”; a historical ensemble; winner of the regional tourism award and one of the first most beautiful villages in Spain.
Long years of studies with the Dominicans filled my curriculum with empty titles. My working life, mostly as a salesman and self-employed, was imbued with active collaborations with various NGOs and cultural associations. Today, my already long “joyful life” confronts me with commitments that anchor me to the computer for several hours daily. I am an amateur thinker, free and daring, while also an aspiring writer and a playful child, nearly octogenarian.
“Adult faith,” a counterpoint to the serene “coal miner’s faith,” that is, that innocent faith that never causes problems and allows the Christian life to sail on an absolutely calm sea, offers me the possibility to share with many, on this side and the other side of the Atlantic, thoughts long pondered and feelings well-honed. A difficult challenge, for, in proposing to open new paths and inviting others to travel them, one must avoid the risk of disorienting and even scandalizing curious readers, without the necessary equipment to discern properly what is said and assimilate what is appropriate.
I will cast that risk into the blast furnace of prayer or, even better, I will strive for the communion of thoughts and feelings, pursued here, to be a beautiful way of praying with those who wish to share it. I accept the commitment to write in this medium with the sole purpose of giving the best of myself, in accordance with the slogans that guide me: that of the Rotary Club “give of yourself before thinking of yourself,” so evangelical, and that of the Dominicans “contemplata aliis tradere” (“to deliver to others the fruit of what is contemplated”), so missionary.
Over the years, ideas have settled within me and feelings have emerged in favor of the necessary humanization of man, an ambitious goal for Christianity. From that vantage point, whose access requires the climb of a “bold reinterpretation” of the evangelical message, I will try to share my convictions and experiences with those who dare to face such a challenge. The rigor and seriousness of the purpose will not allow me to play with corrosive ideas and feelings, for it seems to me that it is only worth writing about Christianity to highlight its great contribution to humanity and underline its role as a transmitter of redemption, joy, and hope.
On the verge of turning eighty, I obviously write in the last stage of my life, which therefore has no more coordinates than simplicity, wisdom, and goodness.