O Captain! My Captain!

Teaching in an inner-city high school was my first job out of college, and I was bursting with unbridled enthusiasm as I planned lessons on British literature that would set my students' world on fire. I wanted to be like Robin Williams' movie character in Dead Poets Society where life lessons are found between the pages of a book, nestled in a poem, or acted from a play. Except it did not quite happen that way, and my O Captain! My Captain! moment was more along the lines of students asking, "Why do we even have to read this crap?" 

But after that year of being baptized in a monsoon of reality, a year in which I learned more than I taught, I recognized the fundamental truth about the vocations of teacher and student. Namely, they are one and the same.  

During a lifetime one may take on any number of roles, but when it is all said and done there are but two roles of which we all play a part: that of student and teacher. At any given moment we are either a Student of Life or a Teacher of Life. One moment a student, the next a teacher. Or a teacher today, and a student tomorrow. From minute to minute, day to day. Year to year.

It is an awareness of these roles which give depth and meaning to our lives. Sometimes we bravely say I know and then with generosity step forward to say let me teach you; sometimes we vulnerably acknowledge I do not know and with humbleness say teach me. 

This is what makes the world function. We learn, then teach. We learn something new and then go out and teach that one thing. And we must be both. To be solely a teacher means you never learn anything new; to be forever a student means that knowledge is simply collected. 

Last week I came across a photo of our son, Jonathan, flipping through a deck of Pokémon cards and teaching his baby brother, Timothy, the names of all the Pokémon characters: This is Pikachu who evolves into Raichu. This guy is Snorlax and he has a big belly. As Jonathan introduced his brother to the fantastical world of Pokémon, Timothy smiled and wiggled and was thoroughly entertained. 

Then, later that evening (and almost 17 years from the photo mentioned above), we watched our son Timothy as he showed a novice altar server what to do during Mass. Once Upon a Time, Timothy's older brothers had walked him through this role, so now it was his turn to do the same.

And so it goes.  

We are born to be students. We are born to be teachers. It is not a choice, but vocations to which we are all called. 

Upon thinking back to my first year of teaching, I remembered a box of battered paperback copies of Arthur Miller's play, The Crucible. The box had been stuffed into the corner of the teacher's lounge and destined for the trash can. But I had a feeling that those ragged, tattered paperbacks would reach my students. Every day I lugged that box to the classroom so we could read the play aloud, and I watched my students come alive. There is no other way to describe the transformation. No longer did they loiter in the hallway until the bell rang for class to begin; instead, they rushed in excited to see what happens next. For the first time, they interacted with each other, offered comments, asked questions, and stayed after class to talk with me. Together, we were students teaching one another in the classroom of life.  

So maybe, perhaps, I had my O Captain! My Captain! moment after all. 

First Sunday of Advent: Where is Baby Jesus?

One of my favorite Christmas carols is "People Look East" because it calls forth images of hearth and home and Christmas anticipation. This afternoon, as I unpacked a Fontanini nativity while listening to the carol, I was reminded how the repeated theme of looking ahead, of seeking and preparing, is such an integral part of an Italian presepio, or nativity scene.

A traditional presepio in Italy includes so much more than the figures of Joseph, Mary, and the infant Jesus. There is often a water feature, and dramatic lighting mimics the transition from day to night and back again. There are mountains, valleys, caves. Entire villages are constructed, as are farm fields and barns. There are shepherds and villagers and children. It is a busy scene, incredibly elaborate and detailed, so much so that it takes a few minutes to even find the infant Jesus. He is not front and center, as one would expect, but hidden.

The fact he is not immediately spotted is precisely the point.

In the nativity story, everyone is looking: the Wise Men studied the star to guide them, the shepherds looked for the babe in a manger, and even Joseph searched for shelter as one Inn after another closed its doors. And in a presepio, the viewer is invited into the tableau and, like the shepherds and villagers and children, is meant to look for Jesus, to seek him out, to look up and down and around the villages and fields and barns until he is found.

As we journey into Advent, that is the theme we are living: one of seeking, for a presepio does not depict a legendary event from ancient Palestine; instead, it is a mirror of the known world today reminding us to look for Christ in our everyday life. In our homes. At church. Among crowds and the homeless. Even amidst our busyness.

He is hidden in plain sight, waiting for you to find him.

(The following photos were taken last October in Naples, Italy on Via San Gregorio Armeno, known as the Christmas Alley.

This pedestrian street in Naples' historic center is filled with artisan workshops and hundreds of nativity scenes, each one more elaborate than the next. The nativities are busy, meant to reflect everyday life, and as your eyes wander over the scenes the question arises: Where is baby Jesus?)

Story Times

I love this time of year. With cooler temperatures and shorter days we hunker down, gathering at the table or around the fire. Listen carefully, for 'tis the season of stories, and I have a true one to share...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In 2014 I interviewed a man from Ohio who told the most incredible story about his uncle, a tail gunner on a B17 bomber during WWII.

During one of their missions, the plane was shot down over Germany and his uncle was taken prisoner. One day a German soldier was ordered to take his uncle in the woods and shoot him; instead, the soldier secretly released his uncle. This single act so influenced the uncle that he became a Catholic priest.

Incredibly, after the war the uncle located the German soldier who then flew to the U.S. to attend his uncle's ordination. The man I interviewed was an altar server during his Uncle's ordination and met the German soldier.

The uncle told this story to his nephew, who told it to me, which is now shared with you. Listen to the stories. They are gifts.

A Girlie Football Saturday

Yesterday it was a cold and rainy Saturday, so we lit a fire in the fireplace and hunkered down to watch football. 

Let me clarify: Joe watched football and I kinda sorta watched football because me watching a game also involves reading, writing, cooking, or working on my blog. 

But yesterday, sitting on the couch before a roaring fire, I was feeling crafty so I went online and visited Tricia Robinson, the "painter of happy, believer in whimsy" who "sees God's smile in the everyday". Earlier in the week I saw that Tricia was offering a free craft project to make Verse Dresses, so I downloaded her free printables and spent a rainy Saturday afternoon making a verse dress for every day of the week.  

What will I do with them? Nothing. But it felt so good to be creative. To be immersed in color. Markers, colored pencils, or crayons? I used all of them! I challenged myself to think outside the box: I cut off the ponytail and repositioned it, even using TWO of them for pigtails; I cut off the sleeves to change the dress; I experimented with layering; I colored the legs to make tights. When I was finished, I made a video. 

And that was how I spent a cold and rainy football Saturday. 

Now, a Wedding

Three years ago, we helped Jonathan move into his new apartment in Atlanta. It was in the middle of a pandemic, and it had been an unusual spring: Jonathan's graduation was a virtual one, and he marched across the living room dressed in his cap and gown when his name was broadcast on the television screen; he signed a lease for an apartment he only toured virtually; and when we helped him move to Atlanta in May, the streets were mostly empty due to everyone working from home.

That day, as we unloaded the Penske truck at his apartment complex, I knew the time to say goodbye was quickly approaching. And I dreaded it. The world seemed so unsettled, and Jonathan would be facing it alone, in a new city, with a new job, in a new apartment. Nothing seemed safe, or certain, or easy.

But Time does not stop. It marches on, and we are forever perched between Yesterday and Tomorrow as we face the Now. There is vulnerability in the Now. Sometimes Now involves tears, stormy weather, and goodbye, while other times Now brings with it laughter, and sunshine, and hello.

I remember very clearly what it felt like to leave Jonathan in Atlanta, and I see now what a blessing these past three years have been. All those things that were scary, turned out to be wonderful: a new apartment! a new city to explore! a new job with benefits! new friends, acquaintances, coworkers! and a charming, smart, delightful fiancée, Caroline. 

As I type these words, Joe is packing up the van with suitcases, garment bags, and dress shoes. I have packed more for one weekend in Atlanta than I did for a two week trip to Italy. We will stop in Athens to pick up Timothy before continuing our journey to Atlanta where we will gather with family and friends. 

Because sometimes Now involves a wedding. And we will celebrate.

Happy Tears

With one week to go until the wedding, yesterday Caroline sent me the schedule of events which included the procession order for the ceremony. When I got to "Jonathan and Monsignor Frank enter from the side door" I was smiling through the tears.

Happy tears.

The best kind.

I love ...

I love color kaleidoscopes 

on Sicilian mermaids, 

espresso saucers, 

garden planters, 

and floating rowboats.