December 29, 2006
Leaders Can See the Sky
I awoke early with leadership on my mind. On the way to the coffee pot, I glanced out the window just in time to catch the sunrise. Despite the intense tangle of old oak and elm branches close by, I could see the fiery orange furnace burn through the first crack in the early morning sky. The small bare-branched forest tried its best to block my view, but the sky beyond was so much bigger. Their dark silhouettes shrank in comparison.
So what does this have to do with leadership? Over ten years ago our Sisters became aware of a hunger in young adults desiring to take the lead in issues they cared about, but, they felt lost in a tangle of trees. We CSJs decided to teach them to see the sky.
Leaders dedicated to providing a network of help and hope to people in need, the CSJ network has strengthened society for more than 350 years. A few years back the St. Paul Pioneer Press named the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet one of fifteen influential organizations for Social Betterment/Social Change in Minnesota in the last 150 years. We figured that if anyone was going to be able to help these young folks we could.
We know that young people can make a positive difference in the community. We also know that they could learn from the CSJs how to transform the world by identifying and responding to social justice issues.
We began a volunteer program called St. Joseph Workers. This program is an innovative volunteer leadership opportunity for women ages 21-35 who want to explore the core values of justice, leadership for social change, spirituality, intentional community and living simply. Women from around the country participate in the one-year program that integrates leadership training, working for justice, and the spirituality and mission of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
St. Joseph Workers live together in the St. Joseph Worker Houses. Each Worker:
· Works with diverse communities, addressing the needs of people who are poor and marginalized
· Is mentored into leadership for social and spiritual transformation
· Deepens her spirituality with guidance from the Sisters of St Joseph and the local community
· Develops intentional community, sharing a commitment to live simply and establish just relationships.
A second-year St. Joseph Workers residency program allows those who wish the opportunity to delve deeper and apply their new skills at Sisters of St. Joseph programs around the United States.
My mind this morning is on our growing international presence. Even as I write one of our Sisters is preparing to go to Kenya to help tribes organize their community to obtain and sustain clean water. There are a lot of tribes and a huge need for clean water. We need all the leaders we can get! But we can see the sky behind this enormous tangle of need and it is the eradication of poverty itself. We can do it, but it is going to take all of us. Think about ways you can help and let me know. Possumus!
St. Joseph Worker Program
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December 21, 2006
Gifts and Gratitude
I don’t wait to open gifts; I unwrap them right away. I have to – there are so many, around every corner, stacks of them from earth to sky wrapped in all kinds of packages like smiles, a blue sky, personal stories, wagging tails, hot coffee, crisp nights, homemade cookies. God is present every minute of the day. I enjoy it all! By Christmas I am so full that all I want to do is be still and allow my soul to absorb my feelings of deep gratitude.
Gratitude has an amazing multiplier effect that transcends “what is” into “what can be?” Questions shift from, “Why are people without basic needs?” to “How can I help?”
This proved true again when the Sisters of St. Joseph in our Province decided to take another big step toward helping our uninsured and poor, frail and homebound, elderly neighbors.
We all know that today healthcare in the United States is not equally available to everyone. The working poor, immigrants, refugees and persons new to the state are too often in a place of healthcare limbo. Recognizing this untenable situation and our commitment to meeting unmet needs, it is our Sisters’ continued desire to support healthcare for all. Currently that commitment is reflected through our Sisters Care and St. Mary’s Health Clinic programs. Confident that this mission will continue into the future, the Sisters offered a big gift to the Ministries Foundation as a strong gesture of current and future support for accessible health care.
This action reflects a deep examine of our consciousness. There it is, steeped in compassion, and love for the dear neighbor from whom we do not separate ourselves, gratitude and so we reach out with all we have.
So, remember to look for God present every day. Don’t wait to open these gifts. Unwrap them right away. Enjoy the transformation and the hope and peace you will bring into our world unlike any our world has ever known.
Possumus! We can! Merry Christmas.
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December 18, 2006
Good
My ten-year-old nephew Patrick decided for his 10th birthday that instead of receiving presents he would give gifts to people who were poor. He had his mom call me to see what would help the people our Sisters’ served. I sent him a list that he included in his birthday invitations. Patrick said that this way a lot of kids could help.
I asked him how it made him feel to be helping people in need. “Good,” he said. I tried asking several other ways to have him expand a bit, but he kept saying the same thing,
“It just felt good.” Sometimes depth is beyond words.
When immigrants first come to our English language school called Learning In Style, there are few or no words, but depth is there. Many of these adults have special needs because they received little or no formal education in their country of origin and/or they are refugees who have lived through war, torture, violence, or intimidation.
The Sisters’ help them overcome barriers by building trust within safe, supportive and nurturing environments and through individual attention, small group tutoring and student need-based curriculum.
The quality and continuity of the teaching staff distinguishes this education program from other adult education programs. Students benefit from the high quality of instruction and from the consistency and commitment of the teaching staff.
Why is this important? English language skills allow adult immigrants to function as a parent, a community participant, a worker, and a life-long learner. A multiplier effect awaits each new student: improved language skills affect the learner’s family, the learner’s productivity, the learner’s employer, and on many levels the learner’s community.
Each year our Sisters at Learning In Style teach nearly 400 adult students with 59 percent completing a literacy level and/or advancing one or more levels as measured by state literacy testing guidelines. These are impressive results given that many of these students suffer from trauma or had limited literacy in their native language.
By the way, I asked Patrick if any of his friends have followed in his footsteps on their birthdays. He said that one has. That is a 100% increase in “good” ness. Not bad for a 10-year-old!
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December 11, 2006
The Human Spirit Does Not Journey Alone
Do you ever take things for granted? I remember visiting Salt Lake City and being completely distracted by the ring of mountains that stood before us wherever we turned. I asked someone from there how she kept focused surrounded by such beauty. She just looked up and said, “Huh?”
Visitors here remind me of all that I take for granted as well. Just yesterday I walked a couple through Wisdom Ways, our Spirituality Center. As we strolled through the 100-year-old center, I explained the mission, “Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality exists to explore the spiritual dimensions of contemporary life for women and men and to re-imagine and embody all that women can be as agents of transformation in church and society.”
The couple stopped. By the look on their face I wondered if I’d spoken too fast. I continued, just a bit slower, “Wisdom Ways also serves as a clearinghouse for programs, services and information about diverse spiritual resources available in the Twin Cities and Upper Midwest Region.” I saw them exchange glances.
“Is everything all right?” I asked.
“It is just so beautiful,” one responded. The other said, “It feels sacred.”
It’s true. Something I take for granted. Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality resides in our Carondelet Center building. From its first day, the space has been used for prayer. The century of prayers probably polished the woodwork.
Wisdom Ways sponsors and facilitates workshops, lectures, conferences, retreats, book discussions, and prayer opportunities and provides access to personal development, including private spiritual direction. Its work draws from the Catholic Christian traditions of intellectual inquiry, spiritual development and social justice.
Wisdom Ways is open to all spiritual seekers regardless of their religious affiliation. Participants are women and men who represent a wide diversity of ages and spiritual traditions including several mainline Christian denominations as well as Jewish, Buddhist, Quaker and Unitarian Universalist. Many others describe themselves as seekers and are not affiliated with a particular tradition.
Why is this important? The Sisters of St. Joseph believe that human life is meant to be lived fully in relationship with God, the earth, and one another We believe the human spirit does not journey alone.
Together sojourners explore and contemplate the holy and sacred, within and beyond.
Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality
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December 5, 2006
Anyone can be a hero
Gratefully, I am back in my corner chair with time to call back my far-flung spirit after a long few days out in the field. My spirit returns soaked in stories of poverty and struggle, but when I pull them in to warm and make sense of it all, underneath the chill I find heartwarming examples of courage and strength and some heroes as well.
For example, this week as temperatures plunged to single digits, one of our St. Joseph Workers was overwhelmed with the profound need and numbers of people she serves. Her eyes pleaded for help as she told me overwhelming tales of person after person who came in from the cold and desperate. “You are heroic,” I said, attempting to buoy up her spirits as I saw her understanding the depth of poverty in the world that she and all other young adults are inheriting from us.
“No,” Katie replied, “Heroes are the people who give the things I can offer to my people. They are real heroes,” she said.
“So what does it take to make a hero?” I asked. Here is Katie’s list:
Jackets, men’s clothing, blankets, backpacks—more masculine than childlike, hand sanitizer, toothbrushes, toothpaste.
Katie asked if it is too much to expect a shed that could hold donated furniture. I said that if she truly believes heroes are all around us, no, it is not too much to ask.
It is hard to remember that any one of us can make a difference. Katie reminded us that we have to just keep trying.
Want to be a hero? Here is your chance. Heroic deeds can be offered to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. The phone number is 651.228.0506.
