Education – Page 5 – The Future is Open

October 29, 2013

The Warming House Needs Bread

The Warming House in Olean, New York is the nation’s oldest student run soup kitchen. It provides meals six days a week to the neediest in the Olean area who find their way to our tables. It serves more than 12,000 meals annually. Each day volunteers from St. Bonaventure University and the local community assemble and prepare a nutritious meal for our guests. The Warming House is well stocked with food donated by various groups and individuals in the Olean area. So why does the Warming House need bread? We need bread to pay the rent which costs $1500 per month. We’re asking that you consider a small gift to help us continue this tremendous gift to the community. We need a thousand people to donate $1.50 each month to cover that expense. We seek to build relationships with those that we serve by respecting their human dignity and by helping them to restore hope in their lives. Please help us to continue in that work.

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. – 2 Corinthians 9:7

Those of you who wish to contribute may contact Maggie Morris, Warming House Coordinator at 716-375-7813 or Email. Please share this opportunity with your friends on social networks. Peace!

October 21, 2013

A school called to model Francis

Recently I met with the principal of a local Catholic high school who is attempting to resurrect the Franciscan tradition upon which her school was originally built. Declining vocations meant that the school had to be staffed with lay people and administered by them too. There are members of the school’s governing board who would like to see a return to the school’s roots. There are few reminders of its rich Franciscan heritage nor of the Franciscan friars and nuns who once walked its corridors. But aren’t we all called to follow Christ and couldn’t we model this charism for faculty and students. Could this rebirth of the Franciscan Intellectual tradition be a model for others. Could the creation of an authentic community of teachers and learners modeled on the care of creation point and the celebration of the uniqueness of each individual mark the way forward? The following quotation taken from the Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order points the way.

“Together with all people of good will, are called to build a more fraternal and evangelical world so that the kingdom of God may be brought about more effectively. Mindful that anyone “who follows Christ, the perfect man, becomes more of a man himself,” let us exercise our responsibilities competently in the Christian spirit of service. Let us individually and collectively be in the forefront in promoting justice by the testimony of our human lives and our courageous initiatives. Especially in the field of public life, we should make definite choices in harmony with our faith. Let us esteem work both as a gift and as a sharing in the creation, redemption, and service of the human community.”

Aren’t all students and teachers whether in public or private education called to conversion where knowledge becomes more than mere learning and instead begins to animate the life of the students and the faculty? Franciscans celebrate life and creating a school where life in all its forms is celebrated and respected would provide a unique experience for the students. Imagine a school where care for all creation became a theme around which the school could unite.

September 29, 2013

Mr. Martinez — Servant Leader

Friday I volunteered at Boston Valley Elementary School in the First Grade classroom of Dara Watkins. It was my first classroom experience since retiring in August. I read the students “Harold and the Purple Crayon,” which was one of the first books I read and remains one of my favorites. Upon arriving at Boston Valley I parked my car, picked up my shopping bag of beanie babies my wife had donated to the cause and a pumpkin I purchased as a class gift along the route of travel. I walked to the entrance of the school and got “buzzed in,” by the elementary secretary, signed in and was directed toward Dara’s classroom. In the hall I met a tall, well dressed gentleman. I said, “are you the principal?” He responded, “no, I’m the custodian here.” I’m naive, so I took him at his word as he escorted me to Dara’s classroom. I said, “I worked as a custodian and school bus driver for eight years prior to earning my bachelors degree and becoming a teacher.” Immediately we had something in common and I felt welcome here at Boston Valley. Later when talking with Dara I learned that my custodial escort was in fact Mr. Martinez, the school’s principal. I also learned from Dara and my wife that this wonderful man had given her $100 to buy school supplies. Servant leaders always empower those they serve and Mr. Martinez is one of those rare individuals who does exactly that. Dara, her colleagues, and the students of Boston Valley are blessed to have Mr. Martinez. Thanks for making my day and enriching all of our lives with your wonderful example.

June 25, 2013

Love your neighbor as yourself

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:31

These are word easily read but not easily practiced for me. They are words whose point I missed for much of my life and to this day I have difficulty loving and caring for myself. I frequently put myself down. It is a false humility, a pride in reverse that invites me to think less of myself. Today I was having a field day judging myself harshly because something went wrong. We were reimaging computers, dozens of them, when suddenly I realized that we needed an older version of Internet Explorer installed. Immediately my gut began to churn, I stopped living in the present moment and instead began to recriminate myself and pity myself. Neither of these is healthy activities. When I engage in this mindless behavior I also violate the principle of ahimsa. For many years I have admired Mahatma Gandhi and the principle of ahimsa, but it was not until I began to practice yoga that I realized that “non-harming” applies to self too! Tonight following dinner and in the gathering twilight I began with a forward bend, downward dog, mountain and a couple lunges. I began to return to my breath and to love and care for myself as yoga teaches us. Once again I saw the union between this ancient practice and my prayer life. I lift my eyes and my arms toward heaven and touch the cosmos and feel the warm healing energy flow in my body and spirit. It is in these moments that I sense a connection with the cosmic Christ, the alpha and omega of the universe. God is love and he expects us to love each other and ourselves too. As C. S. Lewis says, “humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.” There is a divine paradox in that axiom.

June 20, 2013

My grace is sufficient

Today was one of those year ending days in school when it all got a bit overwhelming with tests, test results, people who needed help. I was down and shared that with my colleague and friend David who always has a good word or joke to share. His enthusiasm and kindness are legendary. Today while we were sharing, he told me that the important things in teaching and learning are not the test scores, but the impact that we educators have on our students. He related how he had seen students vying to be the first to enter my classroom each day. Later in the morning I received a scripture quote from him which helped to buoy my spirits.

I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” Jeremiah 31:25

That’s one more way that he encouraged and strengthened me. It was a God send on a very taxing day. Our principal was equally kind to me and encouraged me as only principals can do. During the day as I walked the halls another of my favorite quotes kept me afloat.

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Thank you to Dave and Tom and all who reminded me that we are brothers and sisters and that community is more important than anything else in the world.

June 18, 2013

Franciscan Institute

In a couple of weeks I’ll be attending classes at St. Bonaventure University’s Franciscan Institute. In preparation for that I received an instructive email from the liturgist yesterday. Each day begins with morning prayer and ends with evening prayer and in between is the Eucharist. I loved this quote taken from the mail.

Institute liturgies set a rhythm for our life on campus and give us time to come together, as the Body of Christ, from all of our different classes. We hope that your academic life comes to a culmination in the liturgy and that you leave the Institute with both new wisdom and a renewed spirit.

I look forward to my time at the institute with longing and hope for a renewed spirit. Peace!

June 17, 2013

A more fraternal and evangelical world

After completing my last post and walking along the Allegany river I thought of the words of our Secular Franciscan rule.

Secular Franciscans, together with all people of good will, are called to build a more fraternal and evangelical world so that the kingdom of God may be brought about more effectively.

Then I came across a great blog from Our Lady’s Fraternity of Secular Franciscans that expands on the rule nicely.

Article # 14 of our Rule of Life in structs us that we Secular Franciscans are to go about our God-given task of “building a more fraternal and evangelical world” not just for ourselves, & not just for the community of other Christians. Rather, we are to work “together with all people of goodwill” in a common endeavor to “build a more fraternal and evangelical world”. Some of us must say to ourselves, “surely this attitude of radical, open-armed inclusiveness has got to be some kind of mistake!” What about those people who don’t look & think & act the way we do? What do those people who don’t have the same set of values & beliefs that we do, who don’t pray the way we do? Do we have to include them, too, in this equation? The answer is YES! Our rules does not give us the option of choosing to work with just a few people of goodwill or just some people of goodwill or even just most people of good will. The challenge for us as well as the hope & the promise is to be willing to find common or at least complementary initiatives with all people of goodwill.

Click here for a link to that blog.

I see the calling I am discerning as compatible with my vocation as a Secular Franciscan.

June 16, 2013

Fathers Day Insight

For months and even years I’ve been praying for direction. Today as I meditated and now as I mindfully walk along the Allegany river near St. Bonaventure University the answers seem to flow. All of my life I have wanted to teach, to help and heal people. I recall making tests up for my brother Mark using my Dad’s typewriter. Mark was my first student. At 19 and in US Navy recruit training I was chosen education petty officer for our company. I’ve often wondered why I was chosen. Many of my shipmates were college graduates and I had only completed my freshman year of college at that point. Later I attended US Navy Corps School and served as a corpsman in labor and delivery, newborn nursery and later a surgical assistant and ambulance driver. After active duty I briefly pursued nursing education then leaving academic pursuits and eventually finding employment in education first as a school bus driver and custodian then returning to the classroom to finish the bachelors degree. For the past almost twenty-six years I’ve taught and worked as a technology director. But what am I really? Am I a geek, a technology purveyor, an entrepreneur who helps others solve technology problems? Is there more?
This morning an insight came and it crowded out everything else. At my core I love to help people. I love God and all that might be defined mystic and spiritual. I was the altar boy who fell asleep in front of the church door waiting for Fr. Pollard to open for 7 o’clock mass. I was the boy who wanted to go to the minor seminary at twelve years of age. I am the teacher who loves opening up opportunities for challenging students too.
Four years ago I returned to graduate school at St. Bonaventure University and graduated at the top of my class in Educational Leadership. For awhile I actively sought administrative positions at other school districts. I got some interviews but all proved to be dead ends or so I thought. Frustration set in and I began to question what I had accomplished. Eventually at the direction of a total stranger I began to meditate. Five minutes twice a day led to ten and eventually fifteen and twenty minutes. Changes in my outlook and healing invited me to consider the power of this ancient practice. An invitation from my daughter to take up yoga caused additional changes and now almost eighteen months later I sense a new direction for my life.
Not in the last thirty years have I seen so much stress and tension in education. Everywhere teachers, principals, students and parents too are stressed and frustrated with a system gone awry from high stakes testing. Then too a society in flux adapting to the second decade of the twenty-first century. Global markets, climate change, redefined roles have created chaos that is not easily solved. Old answers don’t work and so we look for new answers to the questions caused by this frenzy.
My practice of meditation and yoga have brought me peace. My prayer life has deepened and invited me to reach out. I’m pursuing my calling as a Secular Franciscan and a teacher and today I see that this earlier call could’ve been the direction I have been looking for. Francis responded to a call to rebuild the church of his day which had fallen in to ruin. The church or better yet the community of today has fallen into ruin. The call I’m discerning today is how and by what means can we rebuild the community or communities in which we find ourselves. I think the answer lies in stillness and contemplation. The world needs mystics and contemplatives from all cultures and faith communities. I hope you will join me in silence, stillness and prayer for our earth and its people.

May 24, 2013

Franciscan Philosophy of Social Engagement

I recently signed up for a course at The Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University. It’s my first course in a program of study that could lead to a Master of Arts in Franciscan Studies. I’m anxious and excited. I’m a layman, a Secular Franciscan, and I’m likely to be surrounded by highly educated Friars & Nuns who’ve had a number of theology courses. Nonetheless, I’m blessed to be included in such a group. In some way I’m pursuing a vocation I once considered as a young man.
Our teacher will be Keith Douglas Warner,OFM of the Saint Barbara Province. I’ve never met him, but he comes highly recommended and this course just kind of leapt out at me as I perused the course catalog a couple of months ago. The title of this blog is the title of the course. Dr. Warner included a reading list to our class that will provide me with more than enough to keep me occupied for awhile. Dr. Warner also provided a link to a fellowship whose focus is Social Entrepreneurship. I think this is going to be an exciting summer.