Be Flexible

Last month I stayed at the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky for the better part of a week.  The monks there are predominantly contemplative.  They pray the Divine Office, largely composed of the Psalms, which they chant in unison, seven times a day.  However, they also perform various kinds of work there at the monastery.  They have made cheese and fudge and fruitcake.  Some of them write spiritual texts.  Others plant and grow and pick fruits and vegetables on the grounds of the abbey.  Still others tend the grounds of the abbey.

During my stay at the abbey, I got to speak with a couple of the monks more than once.  One of them entered the abbey when he was relatively young, and he is now elderly.  He mentioned more than once to me that he had authored a booklet containing some of his spiritual musings.  Since he mentioned the booklet to me multiple times, I figured I should pick it up from the abbey bookstore.  Accordingly, I stopped into the bookstore and bought this monk's booklet.  In it he relates how he was asked to change jobs at the abbey.  I took his change of situation as a good example to follow, and as a way to help maintain perspective.  Things could be more challenging than they have been for me, and in additional ways than they already are.

I have a warm, encouraging, sympathetic, patient, accommodating and helpful principal as my boss now.  I have co-workers, both teachers and staff alike, who are pleasant, helpful and supportive.  I work in a calm, serene, sane workplace.

Given that I feel unversed in teaching a group of students with such a wide range of abilities, I have felt severely challenged in this work.  However, I chose this job, unlike the monk I noted above, who was being asked to take on a new position, who knew nothing about the kind of new work he was being asked to start doing.  Further, I am not making this career shift as an elderly person, unlike the monk I described above who changed jobs once he was aged.  He made those changes as an elderly person, being flexible despite his age, adapting to the new and unfamiliar demands made upon him.  I am not so challenged as he was.  As I consider him, I feel called to keep my situation in perspective.  I am reminded that my situation could be more challenging than it is.  And I take him as inspiration.  May we all accept what we are called to do as he did. 

Memento Mori

Since I started living here in Chicago last month, I've been enjoying going to church.  One of the times I attended Catholic Mass earlier this month, the priest told a story during his sermon. 

A man went to a monastery on a retreat.  He went there for some quiet contemplative time, since he was trying to decide whether to become a priest or a psychologist.  Everyday, he would go for a stroll on the grounds of the monastery.  When he went on his walks, he would always pass a monk who would say to him, "Memento Mori."  Finally, when the week was over, the time came for the man to leave the monastery.  Soon before he was going to depart from the monastery, the man again crossed paths with the monk.

"Well?" inquired the monk.  "What did you decide?"

The man replied, "I have decided that I am going to become a psychologist."

"So?" asked the monk.  "What now?" 

"Well, I am going to go to graduate school."

"And then what?"

"Then I will get a job as a psychologist.  And I am going to fall in love and get married."

"Then what?"

"Then we will have kids."

"Then what?"

"My children will start attending school."

"Then what?"

"Eventually, my children will attend college."

"Then what?"

"By then, I suppose I will retire."

"Then what?"

"Well, since I will be retired, I will get to travel to some places I've never been." 

"Then what?"

"Well, by then, I suppose that my children will be having their own children, so I will enjoy spending time with my grandchildren."

"Then what?"

The man thought for a moment.  "I suppose that soon after that, I will die."

"Then what?"

The man looked a bit concerned.  "Well, then I will go before God, and I hope that He will be pleased with how I have lived my life."

The monk explained, "This is why I kept saying to you, 'Memento Mori,'" meaning 'Remember death,' or 'Think about what will happen when you die.'"  

Site Visit

After I accepted the invitation to become a Lasallian Volunteer (LV), the Director of Lasallian Volunteers called me to discuss my site preferences with me.  After accepting the invitation, before we spoke again on the phone, I had a few days to think about what I wanted to get out of the program.  Thus I felt that I had gathered my thoughts enough to be able to explain well to the Director the kind of experience I hoped to have as an LV.

I considered the Brothers of the Christian Schools, the religious order which founded the Lasallian Volunteer program.  The Brothers have taken vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to God.  However, they don't live in monasteries.  They live in houses much like anyone else does, yet they live in Christian faith-based community with each other, sharing prayer and fellowship together.  Given how I've enjoyed spending time with people who have consecrated their lives to God, I told the LV Director that I had a very strong preference to live in a community with the Brothers.  I want to see what it's like living as the Brothers do, rather than live in a community composed solely of LVs, as a small number of LVs do.

I also told the LV Director that although I had indicated on my application that my first choice would be to teach ESL (English As A Second Language), I had thought further about work positions and had decided that my first choice would be to serve as a high school teacher, and that my second choice would be to serve as a middle school teacher.  Since I had interviewed to be an LV, I had thought about how in a previous job, I had expressed uncertainty about my ability to do certain tasks well, which had led my supervisor at the time to say to me, "Don't give me that Scarecrow from 'The Wizard Of Oz' routine!"  After I had interviewed to be an LV, I had started applying that advice from my former supervisor, trying to shed my uncertainty, and instead telling myself that I was able to teach high school or middle school. 

As the weeks after the interview passed, the LV Director contacted me from time to time to update me on the process of selecting a site for me.  At one point, she contacted me and informed me that the site selection process had narrowed the options for my site down to three possibilities. 

A short time thereafter, she informed me that the principal of a middle school in Chicago soon would be contacting me.  Within a week or so, perhaps in the middle of April, the principal called me.  We had a pleasant conversation, which I took as a good sign.  He told me that he would be in touch with me. 

At the end of April, he invited me to come visit the school.  He asked me when and for how long I would like to visit.  I told him that I wanted to visit the school as soon as possible for a few days.  He purchased the tickets and less than a week later, I was flying to Chicago in early May. 

I landed at O'Hare in the afternoon and took the subway's blue line into the city.  The principal had arranged it so that a teacher picked me up from a stop on the blue line to drive me to the community house.  In the small world in which we live, as we chatted in the car, we found that one of his best friends had served with me in the Peace Corps in Morocco over the last couple of years! 

I enjoyed my stay at the community house.  Two LVs in their first year of service, Whitney and Megan, had been living in the house thus far during their year of service.  At the end of their first year of service, during this summer, they moved to the other community house which is across the alley separating the two houses.  They'll live there during the second year of their service, that is to say, for the next 12 months.  I enjoyed talking with Whitney and Megan, who are very friendly and happily answered my questions about serving as LVs and about living in the community. 

The first thing in the morning, at 7:00 a.m., the Brothers, Whitney, Megan and I gathered for morning prayer.  We read aloud together out of the Shorter Book Of Christian Prayer, reading mostly Psalms, and at times other Scripture passages as well. 

After the brief morning prayer of about 15 minutes, most members of the community gathered for breakfast in the dining room.  There's a fair supply of cereals, as well as oatmeal, toast, English muffins, and coffee to be had in the house. 

At the community house, we also gathered for evening prayer.  Technically it is late afternoon prayer, given that we met for evening prayer at 5:00 p.m.  Evening prayer is substantially similar to morning prayer. 

Immediately following evening prayer, we shared dinner together in the dining room.  One night during my visit, we had gumbo! 

During my site visit, when I wasn't at the house, most of the time I was at the school.  I had a long enough site visit that I was able to spend three full days at the school.  It's a small school, only serving kids in grades 6, 7 and 8.  There are only about 28 students in each grade, so that each grade is entirely contained in its own classroom.  The vast majority of the pupils are of Mexican heritage.  Well over 90 percent of them qualify for free or reduced-cost lunch.  Given that the school serves so many poor children, I had been looking forward to going to the school. 

From the moment I stepped onto the floor on which the school is located, even before meeting any of the staff or students, I had a good feeling.  Then once I started meeting the children and teachers and other staff, I felt even more comfortable and excited to be there.  The kids are fairly well-behaved and are exceptionally respectful.  I found the teachers and other staff to be friendly and happy to answer any questions I had. 

Once the school day got started, I got to see first-hand how each student reads 90 minutes each day, a practice I think is wonderful.  The principal had me sit with individual students who were reading, confirming their accurate pronunciations when they seemed uncertain, encouraging them, and correcting some of their mistakes as they read. 

The principal also asked me to teach the 8th grade religion class one afternoon so he could see how I would interact with the students.  Since the students were about to start learning about Pentecost, I decided to teach about Pentecost, when God sent the Holy Spirit down upon the Apostles.  I started off the lesson asking the kids what types of events worry them, and how they react to such events.  Then I asked the students how the Apostles felt right after Jesus had been crucified.  A student replied that the Apostles were worried.  I had a student read the Bible verses in which Jesus had assured His Apostles that He would send the Holy Spirit upon them.  Then I asked for a half dozen volunteers.  I had the six or so students come to the front of the class and they and I took turns reading aloud as we made our way through the second chapter of the book of the Acts of the Apostles, in which Luke the Evangelist recounts how God indeed sent the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, strengthening them and enabling them to do great things.  After we had finished reading from the Bible, I referenced and called upon the Scripture passage to illustrate how God wants us to trust in Him, and that when we do, we are empowered to do great things for Him. 

After the class, a teacher asked me how the lesson went.  The principal happened to be passing us at that moment.  I deferred to him.  I responded, "You'll have to ask him."  I was glad to hear that he was pleased with my teaching style, how I involved the students in the lesson, and how I handled unexpected occurrences during the lesson.  He noted that in my interactions with students, it helps how I speak with energy and show animated facial expressions, tendencies which I hadn't considered as being helpful when I teach. 

While I was glad to hear that the principal had been pleased with my teaching style, I was still concerned about being able to teach well.  Thankfully, he gave me a couple of fantastic books to read, "The Essential 55" by Ron Clark and "Teach Like A Champion" by Doug Lemov.  After reading them in May, June and July, I recommend them both, as they contain very helpful tips about teaching.  In the first book, Clark tends to focus on getting kids into the right mindset for school, both for studying well and for behaving well both in and out of school.  Lemov shares his observations of how outstanding teachers convey knowledge and cultivate reasoning skills, and also how they manage their classrooms well.  I found both books to be insightful; after reading both of those books, I'm less anxious about teaching.

I'm excited about the coming school year.  I'm looking forward to teaching.  And more specifically, I'm glad that I'm going to be teaching at a school where poor children attend.  I'm also glad to have co-workers who share my Christian faith and who are trying to express their faith by caring for others, especially those who don't have a lot.  I'm happy to be trying to live my faith, being supported by those who share it and hopefully supporting them too. 

Invitation To Become A Lasallian Volunteer

In March this year, my first-choice volunteer program, Lasallian Volunteers, accepted me. Yet I feel I should back up to give some context of how I came to apply to be a Lasallian Volunteer.

When I was living in Morocco and working there as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the field of Youth Development from 2010 to 2012, I experienced spiritual changes which helped me gain clarity about the kind of life I want to live. While I lived in Morocco, I had a lot of free time. I tried to make good use of my copious spare time, using it to read the entire Old Testament, then the entire New Testament, then all of the Old Testament Apochrypha. I also gradually read all of "The Imitation Of Christ" by Thomas a Kempis, which many feel is the most treasured text in Christianity after the Bible.

Amongst the other Christian writings I read while I was in Morocco, I read "Celebration Of Discipline" by Richard Foster, as well as the accompanying study guide which Foster also wrote. In those books, Foster discusses spiritual disciplines which can help place one before God, which can help focus on God, which can help one commune with God, including prayer, study, meditation, fasting, simplicity, solitude, community, worship, celebration and service. As I read these books, I came to realize that Foster was describing elements of my life at that point in Morocco which I had been enjoying.

Of course I had been enjoying serving impoverished persons through my work as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I had long found fulfillment from helping poor people in a variety of ways, so it came as no surprise that I found satisfaction from serving poor persons whilst in the Peace Corps. 

I had been living simply as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I didn't miss the paycheck I used to earn as a lawyer, nor did I miss the possessions I had shed just before moving to Morocco. Indeed, as I progressed in my Peace Corps service, and came to rid myself of more property, I grew to want to give away even more possessions. Not only did I want to live even more and more simply, I wanted to do so as I simultaneously knew that to do so is an attempt to practice a spiritual discipline.

Before I had read Foster's writings on the spiritual disciplines, I had known in a general sense that the spiritual disciplines present worthwhile spiritual practices. After reading Foster's books, I came to be aware of why they are helpful to one's spiritual development. I further became aware of their importance in my life, and how they relate to each other. I appreciated his exposition on the spiritual disciplines, since upon reading his writings, I was better able to organize my thoughts regarding my spiritual journey and the facets of my life which I hoped to retain in my life once I left Morocco.

Soon after reading these two volumes by Foster, I read Thomas Merton's autobiography, "The Seven Storey Mountain," in which Merton describes how he came to be a Trappist monk. It occurred to me that as a monk, one can live a life of service, and also of solitude, yet also of community, a life which is especially conducive to prayer, meditation and study of The Word Of God.

Accordingly, once I left Morocco, I visited monasteries on my way back to the USA. I enjoyed my stays at Glenstal Abbey and at Mount Saint Joseph Abbey in Ireland. Even moreso I enjoyed my stay at Belmont Abbey in the United Kingdom. There I stayed inside the abbey with the monks for a week, unlike how I had stayed in the guesthouses at the monasteries in Ireland.  From those monastery visits, I found that I enjoyed the company of persons who have chosen to live their lives consecrated to God. 

After having invested my extensive free time in reading which helped me to identify the kind of spiritual life I wanted to live, and after having stayed at and otherwise visited monasteries, I arrived back in the USA in late November 2012 intentionally looking for specific kinds of opportunities to serve others. During my time in Morocco, I enjoyed spiritual community with other expatriate Christians who were also living in Morocco. I would meet up with them for Bible study, sometimes as often as once a week. I cherished the fellowship we shared as we supported each other in our faith as Christians. As much as I enjoyed the fellowship with them, I also knew that I needed more spiritual community than weekly Bible study sessions. I concluded that I wanted to live in a Christian faith-based community. Thus, I arrived back in the USA seeking opportunities to serve poor persons while living simply as a member of a Christian faith-based community, perhaps as a member of a volunteer program.

Although I started looking for such opportunities about a week after I arrived back in the USA, initially I could not find them. I searched intermittently for brief periods for such opportunities, not consistently searching for them partly because I was especially occupied given that Christmas was soon approaching. Even though I had not been persistently looking for these volunteer programs, by the time New Year's Eve arrived, I was starting to despair that I would not be able to find a way to continue serving poor persons while living simply in a Christian faith-based community.

Then right around New Year's Eve, while doing an Internet search, I found the website www.catholicvolunteernetwork.org. On that website, I found numerous opportunities to volunteer. I found full-time options and part-time options. I found chances to volunteer abroad or in many states in the USA. I found programs offering positions where one could teach, be a social worker, volunteer in a soup kitchen, and serve in many other ways. I found programs where volunteers work in connection with friars and sisters. I found programs where volunteers could get health insurance, room and board, and modest living stipends. In short, I found so many volunteering possibilities that I had to start prioritizing which programs were most appealing to me.

Soon I had developed a list consisting of a few tiers of programs with progressively later deadlines. I applied to the first three programs at the top of my list. I filled out long applications with dozens of questions which called for short answers. I asked former work supervisors, pastors and a co-worker to write recommendations for me. Once I had submitted the applications, I began to wait.

After perhaps a couple of weeks, I heard back from Lasallian Volunteers, which was my top choice. They wanted to interview me! I was glad to get this news. I knew that Lasallian Volunteers was a staff organization which was founded by the Brothers of the Christian Schools to run a nationwide network of volunteers. I knew that Lasallian Volunteers places volunteers in positions where they serve impoverished youths, often in educational settings. I wanted to teach. I had enjoyed teaching as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. When I was applying to the Peace Corps, I enjoyed being a teacher's assistant to a teacher who was teaching ESL (English As A Second Language), and I also enjoyed tutoring people in ESL during that same period. When I was a lawyer, I always enjoyed educating people about the law, which had led me to want to teach in the Peace Corps. So I was excited to interview for a chance to become a Lasallian Volunteer (LV), since I knew that as an LV, I could probably not only teach, but also be a teacher for poor kids. And I was excited to interview to be an LV since LVs live in Christian faith-based community, most of them with Brothers of the Christian Schools.

In preparing for the interview, I learned about Saint John Baptist de la Salle, who founded the religious order known as the Brothers of the Christian Schools. He was a French priest who lived from 1651 to 1719, who did much to further education. While preparing for the interview, I read about middle schools and high schools affiliated with the Brothers, schools which are often called Lasallian schools, and which serve impoverished youths. I also read about other types of sites where LVs serve, including educational centers, a family therapy center, and a retreat center. I also read about the array of positions in which LVs serve, including in the position of teacher, tutor, social worker, campus minister, recreational activity leader, retreat facilitator, and development assistant. On the Lasallian Volunteers website, I also read about LVs who were serving. In all that I read, I got a positive impression of the LV program. As I read LVs' blog entries, I could tell that LVs are happy. As the interview neared, more and more I wanted to become an LV.

The interview lasted over an hour and a half. The interviewer asked me a variety of questions, which tended to revolve around faith, service and community, the main pillars on which the LV program is based. After the interview, I wanted to be an LV even more.

In the days after the interview, I tried to busy myself as I wondered about the status of my application. After a couple of weeks, which seemed much longer, I got word that I was invited to be an LV!  I promptly accepted the invitation to be an LV.  I was happy that I had found a way to continue serving impoverished people, while living simply and living in Christian faith-based community.  I was set to take the next steps on my spiritual journey!