Alvar Núńez Cabeza de Vaca never appeared in my history books at school. Or at least his name never registered with me. But a while back I read about him in an issue of the Los Angeles Times Magazine. Michael Ventura, "Heart of Darkness, Heart of Light," Los Angeles Times Magazine, January 15, 1995. Cabeza de Vaca's story, a remarkable bit of early American history, was tucked in among the magazine's more standard offerings.
When Cabeza de Vaca came to North America in 1528, he was, according to the article, "willing to be your average murderous Spanish conquistador." But his mission of conquering Florida went terribly awry. Over the next eight years he and an ever-dwindling band of followers made their way west—possibly as far as Arizona. The spiritual journey he made during those eight years far outdistanced his trek across the continent. The article indicates that long before he was finally reunited with other Europeans, the "murderous conquistador" had become a healer. He had seen something of the possibility of Christian healing.
The journey for Christian healing
is now well mapped.
