Hello Old Friends
Submitted by Ford Prefect on February 29 2000 at 19:48:39
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Hello Old Friends! Well, not "old" friends in the sense of aged, but "good ol' friends". I thought of posting what I've been up to on BC, but since most of it is church related, I figured I'd come here instead. Almost two years ago, I was asked to conduct a "Children's Liturgy of the Word" for our parish once a month. Most of the kids were younger than I'd had any experience with, so it was quite a challenge. I've since found that kids from 6 to 11 are a lot of fun....but I'm still at a loss to relate well to really young ones (3 to 5). A couple of months later I was asked to do mentoring at an intermediate school with boys 9, 10, and 11. The limited experience with the "Children's Liturgy" proved valuable. One of our parishoners invites me over every Sunday afternoon to pray with her and to play with her grandchildren and the neighborhood kids. One of the college secretaries likes having me go places with her 11 year old (soon to be 12) son. The bottom line is I'm currently friends with dozens of boys.....and loving it. I used to think it was my fate to be with only one at time....and in a sense that's still true since I try to make each boy feel he's the most important person in the world during the time I'm with him....but I'm now able to be good friends with lots of boys and I pray for each of them every morning (it helps me remember their names). I was fortunate to be able to talk with a priest a couple of years ago that was able to counsel me on how I loved rather than who I loved. His advice was to avoid "over-investing" in just one boy, thereby putting him under the pressure of feeling responsible for my happiness, but to take each boy as he was and to just move back a little from time to time. He said I'd be surprised how each person would find their own way to show love. He was absolutely right. In commeration of his advice, I now drink coffee black rather than trying to sweeten it to my taste. Indeed, my simplified (but not so easy) theology is that the mission of each of us is to bring God's love to others. We do, though, have to find our own unique way of doing it. What Jesus saves us from are those things that would stand in our way of accomplishing this mission, namely selfishness and fear. Hope you're all doing well, ---Ford |