I work with both kid's programs run by St. John's. One is the Slice of Summer day camp. The other is Schola Arium a School of Arts that focuses on stringed instruments and art. I help with the art portion of Schola. This means that three days a week I spend a lot of time with kids and with paint and other messy art supplies. Having 60+ kids go through the building daily adds a lot of wear and tear on the areas we use. The two basement bathrooms get a lot of this wear. Every day I usually have to go in there and clean up something, glue, paint, food and on occasion throw-up, from the sink, walls and trash can. (props to Tracy, whose job is the up keep of the building.)
On fix-up days, we usually come back with paint in our hair, under our finger nails and on our clothes. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Outreach might be the only service we do that doesn't need a shower at the end of it.
It's all great though. Being tired and messy at the end of the day lets you know that you really did do something. That you were able to dig in and give.
Last summer we heard a great story from one of the missionaries named Will. He had heard this story in a homily. The priest telling the story would often go to help his mother take care of his aging father. His father had health problems and one day his son, the priest arrived at the house to find a mess. There was vomit covering the floor, the couch and parts of the walls. His father's face and clothes were covered as well. The son was stopped in the doorway by the over-powering stench. As he surveyed the disaster, he saw his mother on the floor cleaning up. She looked up at her son and said," sometimes love looks like this." The priest then pointed to the crucifix and said, "sometimes love looks like this."
This is what we do in service, the undesired tasks that make up our love. We do it messily, imperfectly and with as much of our hearts as we can. This summer is reminding me that God is not calling me to glamour and fuzzy feelings, but to real tasks and real people.
-Sarah
Last summer we heard a great story from one of the missionaries named Will. He had heard this story in a homily. The priest telling the story would often go to help his mother take care of his aging father. His father had health problems and one day his son, the priest arrived at the house to find a mess. There was vomit covering the floor, the couch and parts of the walls. His father's face and clothes were covered as well. The son was stopped in the doorway by the over-powering stench. As he surveyed the disaster, he saw his mother on the floor cleaning up. She looked up at her son and said," sometimes love looks like this." The priest then pointed to the crucifix and said, "sometimes love looks like this."
This is what we do in service, the undesired tasks that make up our love. We do it messily, imperfectly and with as much of our hearts as we can. This summer is reminding me that God is not calling me to glamour and fuzzy feelings, but to real tasks and real people.
-Sarah
No comments:
Post a Comment