Giving Thanks for Friends, Family and Community

So far, I’ve had a busy November. Two weeks ago, my mom came to visit for the weekend. We enjoyed catching up, eating great food, visiting MRS and the HM Ministry Center, and we even played a game of tennis. She also got to meet the other Cleveland volunteers!

Last weekend, I went to the School of the America’s protest in Columbus, Georgia. This was my first time at the protest, and though I have a lot to share about that experience, I’ll save it for another blog post. While I was at the protest, I got to spend time with the four Immokalee volunteers! It was great catching up with all of them and seeing them in action with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. I also met a lot of people working for justice in Latin America on the bus ride down with the InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF), and got to know some of Cleveland's Jesuit volunteers better.

My third big community experience of November was during Thanksgiving. Since Tina and Sam are away for the holiday, Jen and I made plans to have Thanksgiving at Sr. Josie and Sr. Ruthmary’s house. We also invited volunteers from the other Cleveland programs who were in town to join us for the feast. So, despite “staying in Cleveland” for the holiday, we were blessed with an abundance of good company that included: 2 HM volunteers, 2 Jesuit volunteers, 1 Franciscan volunteer, Monica from the HM Just One Year (JOY) program, and 5 HM Sisters. We had such a great time that by the end of the night, we were making plans to bring together the 15 Cleveland volunteers in Catholic programs for an evening at the Sister’s house.

These experiences brought to mind the following poem by Lynn Ungar.

Camas Lilies

Consider the lilies of the field,

the blue banks of camas opening

into acres of sky along the road.

Would the longing to lie down

and be washed by that beauty

abate if you knew their usefulness,

how the natives ground their bulbs

for flour, how the settlers’ hogs

uprooted them, grunting in gleeful

oblivion as the flowers fell?

And you -- what of your rushed and

useful life? Imagine setting it all down --

papers, plans, appointments, everything

leaving only a note: “Gone to the fields

to be lovely. Be back when I’m through

with blooming.”

Even now, unneeded and uneaten, the

camas lilies gaze out above the grass

from their tender blue eyes.

Even in sleep your life will shine.

Make no mistake.

Of course

your work will always matter.

Yet Solomon in all his glory

was not arrayed like one of these.

This year, I am especially thankful for these lovely times with friends, family and community. And who knows, maybe next time I'm away, my email auto-reply will read: “Gone to the lovely fields of friends and family for reconnection and rejuvenation. Be back when we’re through with blooming.”

-J.P.