I have come to fall in love with teaching in Catholic schools. What are YOU in love with?...

"Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evenings, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything." - Pedro Arrupe

Monday, May 5, 2014

A piece of my heart

Sometimes all it takes is a license plate...

And I'm transported back to my time in Arizona:

A time of sunrises, hikes, and outdoor school walkways.
A time of mountains and red rock, magnificent colors and cacti.
A time of Salesian Sisters and Holy Cross priests.
A time when 2 hours chatting around the dinner table was normal.
A time when even though I was so far from home I never felt more at home.

Damn you, Arizona license plate. Why must you make me get all teary-eyed on my way to Mass last night? I can't quite put my finger on it (though the list above gives some idea of what I left behind), but there's a part of my heart that lives on and remains out there. (How does it survive that Arizona dry heat?!) There's a part of me that will never be the same because of all of the experiences and people I met while serving during and post-ACE.

And, I believe it's like that for all of us - wherever we go, we leave a little piece of ourselves, and when our hearts try to patch up and heal, they never grow back to exactly how they used to be...

No comments:

Post a Comment