G. Gutierrez Beber En Su Propio Pozo. (Ingles)

Gutiérrez provides a new five-page preface for this 20th anniversary edition. The preface draws attention to two themes developed in the first edition of We Drink from Our Own Wells: first, the relationship between spirituality and theology, and second, the theocentric nature of the preferential option for the poor. Those looking for an assessment of the spirituality of liberation in LatinAmerica during the past twenty years will be disappointed; Gutiérrez states only that: "These last few years have brought an abundant and valuable production in the line of a spirituality of liberation. The reason is simple: the spiritual experience of the poor people of Latin America and the Caribbean, in the midst of a history replete with achievements and with obstacles, has affirmed itself andmatured. There is no doubt of this being a process that invites us to reconsider this topic...It is an exciting task, which we would like, at some time, to undertake".
This book is a good example of a contemporary Christian spirituality that is well rooted in Scripture and the Christian tradition. Its reading demonstrates well the influence of historical and cultural contexts on Christianspiritualities.

"Spirituality is like living water that springs up in the very depths of the experience of faith." He sees the poor in Latin America as being on an exodus journey that will restore them to what is rightly their own. The basis on the Reading are: encounter with the Lord, walking according to the Spirit, conversion as a requirement for solidarity, efficacious love, joy as a victory oversuffering, and living in community.

In the first part of the book, Gutiérrez describes the Latin American context as one in which poverty means a premature and unjust physical death as well as a cultural death resulting from repression by those in power. The recent recognition by the poor of their power to act as agents in a process of liberation is the historical context in which poor LatinAmerican Christians, and those in solidarity with them, discern how to follow Jesus. Like the spiritualities of St. Dominic, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Ignatius of Loyola, the spirituality of liberation reflects the historical context from which it emerges. As a result, it challenges spiritualities that are elitist and individualistic.

Gutiérrez was celebrating the engagement of the poor intheir relentless and courageous struggle ‘to assert their right to life’, and it is here, in the midst of their suffering and struggle, that he identifies the ground from which the spirituality of liberation rises:

It is on the basis of this affirmation of life that the poor of Latin America are trying to live their faith, recognize the love of God, and proclaim their hope.  Within thesestruggles, with their many forms and phases, an oppressed and believing people is increasingly creating a way of Christian life, a spirituality. … The historical experience of liberation that they are now beginning to have, is showing them, or reminding them of, something down deep in themselves:  that God wants them to live.
 
This is the Christian way of life particular to Latin American Christians. It reflects more authentically their experiences and their goals, for ‘they are carving out their own way of being faithful to the Lord and faithful to the experiences of the poorest

For Gutiérrez, spirituality is not a spirituality ‘for the few’.  He writes that ‘Christian spirituality has long been presented as geared to minorities’, generally privileged minorities, closed groups, linked forthe most part ‘to the existence of religious orders and congregations’.  Consequently, this view implied two different classes of Christians, those who are spiritually inclined and those who are not, those who seek a ‘state of perfection’ and those who settle for a more imperfect form of Christian life.  In response to this situation, Gutiérrez points to the challenges ahead:

One thing is...