Prayer for a Missioner (but really, for all of us)

I pray that you are broken.
        Broken beyond doubt.

I pray this, because this is how you must grow. When you are broken beyond doubt, you can see clearly that your God is already and always with you. When you are broken beyond doubt, you can walk humbly and softly with others, who are also broken. 

I pray that you are broken.
           Broken beyond doubt.

Because we all are. But not all of us know it. 

I pray that you are broken.

That way, you are also blessed and broken to be shared as and in the Body of Christ. 

Amen. 

Sister/Brotherhood

A deep breath.

There is so much to learn, so much to absorb, so much to taste and see and drink. I mean, of course, in the sense of experience. I've been in Milwaukee for almost two weeks now, and I'm getting used to it already. So far, so good. The first week was orientation for both the domestic and international volunteers, and this week we have started work and the international volunteers have a second week of orientation. Thing is, CapCorps and Columbia St. Mary's are still working out the contract for me to serve here, so I have only done one thing work related this week. Otherwise, I've been dropping in to the international orientation and sharing thoughts.

Obviously there is a lot to talk about, but I'm going to focus this entry on one thing: Sister/Brotherhood. This is a deep root of Franciscan Spirituality that I am just getting to understand, and I'm hoping to understand more deeply in time.

The idea is this: We are all sisters and brothers. No, stop. ALL of us. Everything in creation was so blessed just by being created. We are in relationship with everything as sisters and brothers. This means, yes, my family and friends, but it means every person in the world is my sister, my brother. AND it doesn't stop there. All of creation holds this sacred relationship. This includes Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, Sister Mother Earth, and my favorite, Sister Death. What would happen if we thought of everything in creation, every person, every plant and animal, everything as my sister and brother? What would happen if we treated Creation as my sister, my brother?

Wouldn't that change everything?


Let's change.


Feliz Cumple, Hache. 

life update

Finally, Jess!

So by now I've been back in the US for as long as I was in Peru. You might be thinking, what have you been doing, Jess? And what the heck are you going to do?

I don't tend to like questions that are all about action since our culture puts such a big emphasis on doing doing doing, but at some point, yes, I've got to be doing something.

For the record, I've been trying to figure out the "what's next" question ever since I set foot in Indiana, but all good things in life take time, don't they? I've been through many an interview and conversation, and I guess at the end of the day, I was the one who said "no" to the several paths that opened up. The only door that shut painfully on my toes was going back to Peru. You've got to know, part of my heart is still and I think will always be in Peru. That's just the reality that happens when you leave (and come back) for service.

But, despite the times I have denied certain opportunities, sometimes to my mother's distress (sorry, mama!) there is one thing to which I have now said "yes." That is, a domestic year of service with the Capuchin Franciscan Volunteer Corps (CapCorps for short), working in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with Columbia St. Mary's (http://www.columbia-stmarys.org/). It is a health care organization with which I will be working in health education. I don't know all the details yet, because the position is very new, but I will be going around with a team of nurses and educators to churches in underserved communities to raise awareness on different topics, such as diabetes, hypertension, and cancer. I will also be working with parental and prenatal education in a program called Blanket of Love that serves young women and teens. Gulp, I know nothing about parenting, but I guess I will learn.

There are a couple of key reasons why I chose CapCorps. I got the sense that the staff really cared about me and were trying to help me grow no matter if I wanted to work with them or not. They looked for a placement in health care for me and found one, because they knew that is for what I was searching. They have also offered me a re-entry retreat for volunteers who have been back in the US for a while since being abroad. They have no responsibility for helping me through re-entry, and yet their offer stood whether I accepted a placement with them or not. That said something to me.

I think, too, that I chose CapCorps because it gives me a new slate in a certain sense, even though I very much see this work as a continuation of what I hoped for and sought in Peru as a JV. I mean, the interest in health care issues stems from getting sick in Peru, from going around to my host mom's work sites. It is deeper than that, but very much connected. Still, the Franciscans have something new and rich to teach me, I can feel it.

Anyways, that's my life update. See the right side bar for my new address. Oh, I'm also leaving in a day, on Thursday, August 4th. It sort of happened really fast (and a lot of it developed while I was sitting outside the Hog's Head at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida, by the way). I've told virtually no one outside of my family, but this is hopefully changing that.


To new beginnings, new life, and love. 

For a moment
the hunger sits
it is okay to exist.
For a moment
jump and sing
and I really don't care.
For a moment
exhilaration
of being alive.
For a moment.

For a moment
maybe beyond
is right here.
For a moment
there is no past
there is no future
For a moment
There is.
For a moment.

For a moment
Live.
For a moment
Love.
For a moment
Dare.
Not just
For a moment.