Mormonism is something quite foreign in many non English speaking countries, especially in places where Catholics are already a minority, like where I come from. I grew up in what people might call a small town, although it was really just a cluster of rural neighborhoods. To give you a sense of how underdeveloped my “town” was, Catholicism only started to grow in the past 30 years, and we didn’t even have our first ATM machine until 2009. In a place like that, the idea of mormonism felt completely distant, let alone meeting a mormon. Years ago, meeting a catholic felt unusual for kids from my village because we kinda used to homogeneity. Things started to change when I moved to a bigger city for junior high school. The city was relatively bicycle friendly, and I often rode around using a bike borrowed from my school whenever I needed to run errands or just explore. During those rides, especially when passing through Ahmad Dahlan or Sudirman Street, I frequently noticed something ...
Sebentar! Sepertinya aku barusan bermimpi. Aku selalu melanglang buana, jauh berharap ke sana, mencoba ke situ. Tapi, ada satu halyang dari dalam dada itu selalu terdengar memanggil dan menyayat hati. Bocah-bocah tunarungu, bocah-bocah tuli, tunanetra. hmmm apa aku memang diarahkan untuk kesitu? Aku masih belum tau. Saat ini, aku merasa menjadi manusia tanpa visi. Selama ini aku hanya berkubang dalam harapan. Aku lupakan siapa diriku. Aku lupakan cerminku, kutinggalkan ia ditengah jalan, aku sudah lupa menaruhnya dimana. Lalu, aku berkubang dalam harapan. Harapan akan banyak hal. Dan lebih bodohnya, aku menyadari tapi, barang sedetikpun aku tak mau mengeringkan harapan yang terlanjur membasahi pikir dan hatiku. Jangan bayangkan harapanku itu berisi. Lebih cenderung pada kosong. Seolah-olah hanya menyambung hidup tanpa mengisinya! Spesies apakah aku ini? Jika aku manusia, kenapa pula aku tak punya insting untuk meninggalkan sesuatu yang tak bermanfaat bagiku? Mau kemana sejatinya ini...