What kind of work would I like to dedicate myself to? How do I want to use my short time on this earth in a meaningful way? What do I believe God is inviting me to do with my life?
Hello to the world on a Saturday in August!
I have been on the road now for seven months, doing as I do – wandering, intentionally, on a spiritual and heart-centered journey of sifting and uncovering. I have visited so many different cities and organizations; I have met so many different people; I’ve jumped back into my blog and journal, which were both covered in cobwebs; I’ve learned so much. (Forgive me for so many so’s!)
I have absolutely cherished the freedom, the movement, the experiences, the solitude. In fact, before I left, though I really had it on my heart that I would be gone for a year and that I would go to certain destinations and that I would eventually come home, I was originally open to the possibility of encountering something along the way. And a lot of people asked me, well are you looking for a place that you want to move to? Or are you looking for something new to get involved in? But my gut has always been that God was and is inviting me to gather more insight and experience (I have felt this way since I graduated college and realized that I was not ready to be a certified teacher), to build more relationships, to broaden and deepen my perspective so that I could return home and live into my truest self there.
I think it is probably true that most of us in this life do not get to open the doors to our deepest yearnings because there is too much in the way. Too much stuff, too many social pressures, bills, beliefs about self-worth and productivity, career expectations, familial challenges; too much self-absorption and attachment to pleasures and comforts. In obtaining “more” as we do when we access new opportunities, sometimes we are less and less in tune with ourselves and what really matters to us. And so I am so grateful that I have been able to get past the clutter and open the doors, even if only a little. And I highly encourage everyone to try to do that, too.
Forgive me, I think I got a little side-tracked there trying to set the scene. Anyways, back to the big questions. What kind of work would I like to dedicate myself to? How do I want to use my short time on this earth in a meaningful way? What do I believe God is inviting me to do with my life?
I will start to answer this question by jumping back to 2016, when I was visiting the Taize monastery community in France. We had a workshop on reconciliation that focused on healing the relationship between Muslims and Christians (if you remember during that time, there were a series of terrorist attacks in Europe alongside the backdrop of the Syrian civil war and the displacement of millions – xenophobia and Islamophobia in “western” countries was particularly high). This moment of reflection I had was the first time I can recall the Spirit placing a vocational invitation on my heart. I was overwhelmed with energy and excitement as I journaled about the possibility of working in a center for reconciliation – a place of encounter where people could come to workshop conflict mediation skills, nonviolent communication, and restorative justice – and that would exist to serve the whole community, starting with 1:1 relationships and going large scale to working across different demographic lines.
Fast forward two years to Annunciation House; while there, I felt the deep invitational call to be in hospitality and accompaniment – I was so radically transformed by this place of encounter and sharing meals and tears and laughter with people whose knowledge of the fragility of life, the closeness of death, the finiteness of wealth and success and stuff, was like the ocean while my own was just like a raindrop. And then at Catholic Charities, I felt the deep call to accompany people in post-survival healing work and skill-building, moving away from humanitarian aid and towards building long-term community, hope, and healing.
And that sort of leads me to where I am now, and I will do my best to articulate what it is that fills my dreams, that excites me to my core, that feels the most right compared to all the other also very good options that I could pursue. Please, jump into my contemplative imagination with me, if you wish!
Imagine a place not too far out of the city, a big plot of land in a walkable neighborhood, near public transportation, public services, and parks. You have arrived. You are at the Center; it is a place where all are invited to experience living out integrated life that is rooted in Catholic Action informed by Catholic Social Teaching and the teachings of Pope Francis.
“God…encourages us to create a different culture, in which we resolve our conflicts and care for one another” (Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti)
Principles of Catholic Social Teaching:
- Life and Dignity of the Human Person
- Call to Family, Community, and Participation
- Rights and Responsibilities
- Prioritize the Poor and Vulnerable
- The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
- Solidarity
- Care for God’s Creation
We offer hospitality – mostly to refugees and immigrants, but also to some veterans and other people who have lost their housing, and to volunteers. We offer workshops on conflict mediation, personal health, and managing post-traumatic stress. We gather twice a week to study scripture, spiritual writings, or theology together, analyze its implications for our modern times, and pray – all are welcome. We go to Mass together. Our grounds are as eco-friendly and sustainable as we can imagine – we collect rain water (the seldom that it comes along), plant only indigenous plants that are adept to the climate, compost our food scraps, and integrate sustainability and relationship to the earth in every aspect of our being. We have a garden and every month have workshops on seasonal produce. We have a community that lives there, but everyday people come from across the city and county and country to visit, to learn. We have healing offerings once a week; sometimes we get practitioners to come offer free or low-cost massages, facials, yoga classes, sound healings, and sometimes we do peace circles that are focused on specific topics. We have childcare for people who want to participate and need a place for the young ones to go.
We follow the teachings of the Gospel, the wisdom of the Saints, of the Catholic Workers, of St. Francis, of Pope Francis – centering the poor, the marginalized, the orphaned, the imprisoned, the displaced, and working towards the common good – but we include everyone from every economic and social background to be a part of living life in right-relationship to one another, the earth, and oneself (and as we understand that God is living in all of us, this translates to right-relationship with God).
Maybe someday we have a time-banking program and skills exchange? Maybe we have a lending closet that allows people to borrow tools, supplies, etc and share? A place for people to donate unwanted food items that we could use in our kitchen where we prepare meals everyday and/or have accessible to anyone who is in need of extra foodstuffs? The idea would be to continually build on alternative ways to the economic and social system we have now. To envision a future and take every step we can to actualize those values in our community, so young and old from every place could come and see a better way of doing things. It will be so important to us to inspire agency and efficacy in every person that comes through the door, so we can combat climate change, isolation, violence, poverty, and division together.
We will make decisions in communal discernment and prayer, and look to the wisdom of our tradition to creatively problem-solve. We will do our very best to create a place that, primarily and above all, fosters hope in a world that is so wounded and lost. Though we will strive to always remain grounded in reality and our understanding of the world around us, we will practice healing and joy-filled community building regularly to build resilience and foster deeper creativity so that each and every person feels inspired to use their own gifts and talents to offer their best self to our human family. And I do not intend to create this alone – somehow this will be born of a community. Everyone doing their small part. This is the Center.
? Amen!! This is one iteration of what I keep coming back to, a place I would like to help create. I know it seems like a lot – probably bordering on the insane. But that is the amazing thing about letting our imaginations take us beyond the limits of our current frameworks – we really get somewhere beautiful!
Starting when I finish my pilgrimage, my next steps are to finish paying off my student loans and building relationships locally with people who also desire to live out the Church teaching and the call of the Spirit in a concrete, integrated, full way.
If I have understood the Spirit’s invitation correctly, God-willing I will be able to be courageous, wise, and patient in the pursuit of this place I imagine. I am humbled and curious and hopeful and open, and I am especially grateful for every person who takes the time to read this and climb inside my imagination with me. And if anybody is at all intrigued by this vision I am articulating, come find me! Though I am pretty unsure where to start when it comes to transforming this vision into a reality, I am under the deep impression that if it is God’s will, it will happen somehow. I have four more months of travels ahead – on Monday I will set-off for Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica – and we will see what I come to understand is the invitation after that.
Peace and love and hope to all! ?