Lasallian Reflection - What Captures Your Attention?

“You must win them over to practice the maxims of the holy Gospel, and to this end you must give them means that are easy and accommodated to their age. Gradually accustomed to this practice, when older they will have acquired these maxims as a kind of habit and will practice them without great difficulty.”
–  St. John Baptist de La Salle[1] –

Certain things “capture” our attention. It could start out small enough – something read, seen, exposed to, experienced, or undergone. But we are either well and truly hooked immediately, or we are drawn more and more into its embrace. Vocations, life interests, and relationships result, or perhaps vices, addictions, and obsessions. The difference lies in what gets the “face time,” what you return to again and again and again. Recall the story of the grandparent telling a grandchild that there are two wolves fighting inside a person. One is anger, envy, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment, pride, and ego, while the other is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, compassion, and faith. When the child asked which wolf would win, the grandparent answered, “The one you feed.”[2]  It is a good example of De La Salle’s advice in the quote above.

In fact, what attracts or captivates us may over time shape much larger interests and behaviors. When I was in college, some Brothers invited me along to a Russian Byzantine Catholic Church in San Francisco in order to help sing in the small choir. That led to a deep appreciation for the music, liturgy, and theology of that tradition to this day. Similarly, years ago I read an historical novel by Patrick O’Brian. Now, his 20-volume Aubrey-Maturin series has become my go-to relaxation read. I just started my 4th journey through them, listening to Patrick Tull’s audio versions for variety.

So let’s agree that some little things can be really important in shaping people’s habits and lives. Now combine that with current realities surrounding politics, social media, mass advertising, online “get eyes” tactics, pervasive exposure to “emotions on acid” shows,[3] and an unavoidable use of virtual environments for educational purposes. There are a lot of hooks in the water here.

Thankfully, young people are generally much more intelligent and discerning than people believe. What is less prevalent is the experience and developed habit of choosing well. The first will come with time; the second is where parents, teachers, and mentors come in. Paradoxically, kids often appreciate it when they are given the structure to do well, when they are invited to reach more deeply, when they are motivated to help others in significant ways. High school student-led retreats are a privileged experience of this reality. In one high school from my past, the student-body president used to show up to student parties with a six-pack of Pepsi. And don’t think that this didn’t make an impression; but he was perfectly sincere in his choices, and the kids knew it.

Look at the opening quotation again. What relevant Gospel maxims can we make available to today’s students in “means that are easy and accommodated to their age”? Young people like a challenge, especially if it involves their growing character and identity. Perhaps there should be a modern equivalent to the daily universal exercise that was historically part of each Lasallian classroom: The Reflection.[4] This was a time when the Brother shared a story, news item, adage from scripture, etc., and “spoke directly to his pupils in a way which showed his concern for them and for their lives.”[5] It was designed as a moment for teaching the heart, for touching the heart. It was when “heart spoke to heart” in an otherwise highly organized classroom. Here, the teacher quietly led a path through the jungle of the students’ daily experiences, shared guideposts that deserved consideration along the way, was the grandparent who told a story about wolves. Others pay attention when you do that. It’s a nearby, shiny, personal hook in the water that is irresistible.

These short times of shared “reflection” can be either spontaneous or well planned. You can try to rely on the spontaneous version, but my vote is for the well planned one. “Being creative involves hard work … If you seek sudden inspiration, then work at it every day for a year or a lifetime. That is how it comes. As every famous golfer is said to have said when asked for the secret of his success: ‘I was just lucky. But the funny thing is that the harder I practice, the luckier I become.’”[6] Martha Graham, famous for her creative, spontaneous dancing style, once said to an interviewer, “It takes at least five years of rigorous training to be spontaneous.” There are no shortcuts.

Teachers compete with social media and tightly scripted, well-designed “emotions on acid” shows; all bright, pervasive, raw, and immediately accessible. Thankfully, genuine human encounters may yet pierce through such artificial mist with piercing clarity and power. This is the genuine touching of hearts that we so frequently talk about. And it still deserves to capture our greatest attention.

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A PDF of this reflection is HERE.

Photo by Jed Owen on Unsplash

[1] De La Salle, John Baptist, Meditations by St. John Baptist de La Salle, trans. Richard Arnandez, and Augustine Loes, eds. Augustine Loes and Francis Huether, (Landover, MD: Christian Brothers Conference, 1994), Med. 197.2

[2] The story was first published in a 1978 book called “The Holy Spirit: Activating God’s Power in Your Life,” by Billy Graham. He admitted that he invented the story for a sermon some 40 years earlier.

[3] This was an online comment about “Euphoria” – a show that I have not and do not want to watch but that is very popular among young people. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wjvwkn/we-asked-teens-if-euphoria-is-realistic

[4] https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2213NaO-cODeGNrRVBlX19MRDg/view

[5] https://lasallian.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Resource-6-Catechetics-and-Heart-Rummery.pdf

[6] https://rabbisacks.org/inspiration-perspiration-tetzaveh-5776/

Lasallian Reflection - Finding Simplicity & Focus

 

“The more uncomplicated your view of faith, the more surely you will be disposed
to simplicity of action and conduct, which is the disposition God wants of you.”     
–  St. John Baptist de La Salle[1]

Artists, mystics, and children have an advantage over most of the rest of folks. They naturally gravitate toward simplicity, and they naturally adopt an irritatingly narrow focus on the most basic and immediate kinds of things. Distraction – according to our general view – is their unwelcome handicap, whereas to them “distraction” is simply the way they encounter the real world, seen as a granular daily friendship with each moment, each encounter, and each person they meet.

A more calculating and less benevolent application of the same principle occurs in politics, where each moment, each encounter, and each person are opportunities to draw others into a certain view of things. And while such talents need not necessarily be used for nefarious purposes, they may serve the “disposition” that lies behind their use. An example of this happened to me many years ago when I briefly met a former popular mayor of San Francisco who attended the funeral of one of the Brothers. He was in his late 80s, and after the funeral he was introduced to me. Firm handshake, direct eye-contact, natural smile, genuine interest, and total focus and conversational engagement for 20-30 seconds. When he walked away, I was ready to vote for him. In this case, it was simply an old politician who now used his talents for immediate engagement from a genuine disposition of companionship, with no political ends in mind.[2] But I could see the power behind it.

St. John Baptist de La Salle falls more on the mystical side of “disposition” when he urges others to pursue simplicity: “Strive earnestly to give up worldly ways: adopt a simple demeanor along with manners and conduct that reflect the Spirit of God.” “Do not torture yourself with frequent acts of penance; they could injure your health. A simple view of God from time to time suffices.”[3] Where does such disposition come from? What did he see as the transformative perspective that would move the soul toward depth, toward starkly revealed daily encounter, toward God? Here it is:

“Look on everything with the eyes of faith. You must never fail to do this, no matter what the reason. Viewing things with the eyes of faith will earn for you in one day more good, more interior application, closer union with God, and greater vigilance over yourself than a month of those penances and austerities to which you are attracted. Believe me, you will see its effect, although perhaps for the present you will not understand it. Let me repeat: the more uncomplicated your view of faith, the more surely you will be disposed to simplicity of action and conduct, which is the disposition God wants of you.” (Letter 117)

Here is another way of saying that: Look at everything from God’s perspective. Never forget to do this for any reason. Seeing things like God does can in one day do you more good, give you more enthusiasm, help you understand yourself and others and God more deeply, than all of those pious works, popular distractions, and personal “sacrifices” that you like so much. You may not see results right away, but I guarantee that this simple change of viewpoint will lead you to a simplicity of action and conduct in everything that you do. Why? Because God is now really a part of it all.

For all those trying to cope with new realities, fresh challenges, unforeseen needs, frustrating daily distractions, and an irritatingly narrow focus on the most basic and immediate kinds of things, De La Salle’s words may be helpful, for they come from 40+ years of dealing with challenges that, on balance, were much greater than ours are today. When many others would have thrown in the towel, he persisted. And that has made all the difference to millions whom he would never know.

As Lasallian educators, we shape a future that is not our own.[4] It is our avowed vocation to persist, and to do so with a genuinely deep faith, and with a simplicity that emerges from that deep faith, focusing on each moment, each encounter, and each person we meet. It is our privileged role to be artists in learning, mystics in relationships, and children in wonder. Not a bad vocation, that.

A more recent voice articulates this same “big picture” of what we do, albeit using different words. “When life is stripped down to its very essentials, it is surprising how simple things become. Fewer and fewer things matter and those that matter, matter a great deal more. … [E]very life serves a single purpose. We are here to grow in wisdom and to learn to love better. Despite the countless and diverse ways we live our lives, every life is a spiritual path, and all life has a spiritual agenda.”[5]

Let’s let De La Salle have the last word, however, in a quote that has Zoom implications: “If you show a simple and serious exterior, people will soon conclude that your inner life too is well-controlled and that there is reason to believe that you are fit to educate your disciples in the Christian spirit.”[6] Pursue simplicity and focus with “eyes of faith.” The rest will take care of itself.

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A PDF of this reflection is HERE.

Artwork by Ad Arma: www.adarma-art.com

[1] De La Salle, John Baptist. De La Salle, John Baptist, The Letters, Translation, introduction, and commentary by Colman Molloy, FSC. Edited with additional commentary by Augustine Loes, FSC, (Landover, MD: Christian Brothers Conference, 1988), 236 (Letter 117).

[2] Okay, since you’re curious enough to look at the footnotes. His name was Frank Jordan.

[3] The Letters, Op. Cit. Letters 18 and 119.

[4] Based on something written by Fr. Ken Untener that you should read, if you don’t know it, because of its encouraging tone. https://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers-and-devotions/prayers/prophets-of-a-future-not-our-own

[5] Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen, MC – Quoted in Richard Rohr’s daily reflection, Dying as Disorder (August 20, 2020).

[6] De La Salle, John Baptist, Meditations by St. John Baptist de La Salle, trans. Richard Arnandez, and Augustine Loes, eds. Augustine Loes and Francis Huether, (Landover, MD: Christian Brothers Conference, 1994), 152 (Med. 63.3).

Lasallian Reflection - And Then There Are The Details

When the students begin to write, it will be useful and appropriate to give them
a stick of the thickness of a pen to hold. On the sticks, there will be three grooves,
 two on the right and one on the left. These grooves indicate the places
where the three fingers should be placed. This teaches the students to hold the pen
properly in their fingers and makes them hold these three fingers in a good position.  
–  St. John Baptist de La Salle[1]

It is one thing to say that you are concerned about something, but it is another thing to know how to practically live that out. Any experienced teacher will tell you that students very quickly and intuitively sense the slightest whiff of hypocrisy, intentional or not. At the same time, they are quick to “give a break” to someone genuinely struggling to find the best way forward. So perhaps in today’s new educational containment field, the best we can do is to say, “Look guys, I’m working hard to find out how best to work out the details of how we’re going to proceed. And I could use your help in figuring this out. So let’s work together to make sure that everyone benefits. You let me know what works or doesn’t work, and I’ll do my part as your teacher to figure out how we can best work as a class. We won’t agree on everything, but I’ll guarantee that everybody will have a fair shot at succeeding.”

Before you say that this is hopelessly idealistic, read the above quotation from the 1720 manual of Lasallian schools. Teaching writing in 17th century France was forbidden for anyone other than the Writing Masters, yet De La Salle and his teachers were convinced that “… however limited the child’s intelligence, the child that knows how to read and write will be capable of anything.”[2] They even went to court over it, because they knew that this was a crucial, transformative skill that would benefit their students in ways unimaginable. And then there were the details, which included practical things like the quotation above.

These days, even the word “Welcome” on a door requires more details than most care to read. Yet it is exactly those details that live out the larger intent. Convictions without details are empty vessels of words.

One of the Brothers in my community – now in his nineties – likes to give this response to any question that he cannot answer: “Details are lacking.” It reveals an integrity / humility about what is true and meaningful. This sort of approach is consistent with our teaching vocation and with our Lasallian vocation. A teacher without integrity or humility inevitably scatters seeds of deceit and pride, largely without realizing it. Whereas those who intentionally pursue integrity and humility end up sharing a love of, and a respect for, all that fosters wonder, integral complexity, mystery, the priority of people and relationships, and so on. Near the end of his life, a great Jewish teacher recalled something he had written years earlier: “I did not ask for success; I asked for wonder. And You gave it to me.”[3] Teachers cultivate wonder, engagement, and connections, all of which help students process the snippets of knowledge that they discover every day. Having run into some of my students 40 years after teaching them, I can say that they don’t remember the quadratic equation, but they do remember my stories, personality, approach, care, and personal attention.

What lies behind such an approach? One aspect was best expressed by a Russian nun who died in 2011 and spoke about her monastery’s “one innermost battle-cry … , the austere demand of refusing to discuss what is not lived, and the impossibility of living this ourselves: back into the revolving wheel of repentance … .”[4] What the early Brothers and De La Salle pursued relentlessly in their teaching vocation was talking about what was lived, building on their own and others’ experience, and constantly evolving. The 1706 Preface of The Conduct – it wasn’t published until 14 years later – noted that “Nothing has been added that has not been thoroughly deliberated and well tested, nothing of which the advantages and disadvantages have not been weighed and, as far as possible, of which the good or bad consequences have not been foreseen.”[5] The book’s first edition took forty years of shared, cumulative experience to write. And even then, it was changed and adapted for the next 200+ years and went through at least 24 different editions.[6] If anything, this illustrates that the details really sometimes do take a long time to develop, if you care to do a good job.

So what do we do today? First, let’s acknowledge that “Details are lacking.” There is no 3-ring-binder awaiting discovery. “Knowledge makes a bloody entrance,”[7] and we will need to become first-year teachers once more, figuring out with our students and one another how best to fulfill our educational goals. Second, make sure that we are asking the right questions. Beyond the simply practical and method ones, which are certainly not unimportant, there are other key questions that I’ve heard from Lasallian educators; “How do you establish relationships and community online?” “How do you deal with Lasallian Catholic identity online?” Asking the right questions will shape the capacity to answer them. It’s the first step to a first edition. Third, stay calm and focused. Yes, I know that it’s easier to say than to do. But saying it, and recalling it in difficult moments, gradually builds up a habit of resilience, of focused intent, of comfort even.

What else can our Lasallian heritage teach us that may be helpful? Here are a few:

• You’re Not Alone. This whole enterprise came about because of De La Salle’s conviction that doing it together is much more vibrant, supportive, cumulative, and enriching than doing it alone.
• Prayer / Meditation. Look beyond yourself, and within yourself, for depth and perspective, for right relationships with people and things, for an appreciation of grace in your life. Take time to just be.
• Gardens. Prime Video’s The Gardener reminded me of DLS’s care that the Brothers had gardens where they could replenish their spirit. This really works. Visit a garden. Do a hobby. Be creative.

And amidst all the details, problems included, let’s not forget the main thing. Can you guess what that is?

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PDF of this reflection is HERE.

Photo by Br. George Van Grieken, FSC.

[1] De La Salle, John Baptist. The Conduct of the Christian Schools. Translated by F. de La Fontainerie and Richard Arnandez, FSC. Edited with notes by William Mann, FSC. Romeoville, IL: Lasallian Publications, 1996. Pg. 79.

[2] The Conduct, ibid. Pg. 161.

[3] Heschel, Abraham Joshua. I Asked for Wonder. Edited by Samuel H. Dresner. Crossroad, NY. Pg. vii.

[4] Louth, Andrew. Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology. IVP Academic-Intervarsity Press. Downer’s Grove, IL. Pg. 17.

[5] The Conduct, Op. Cit., Pg. 26.

[6] By the early 1900’s, it looked completely different, and appropriately so. In the 1960’s there was a U.S. Region effort to revise it into an 11-Volume “High School Management Series.” But this was abandoned after five year as “a vain attempt to impose an unwanted uniformity upon the rich diversity of teaching methods in American high schools.” The Conduct. Op. Cit., Pg. 32.

[7] A proverb whose earliest citation I could find was in a 1891 book by Percy Wynn. Some say it’s from the early Greeks.

Lasallian Reflection - The Threads That Remain

Photo by Rosie Kerr on Unsplash

Take care not to let yourself be discouraged by anxieties and ailments; life is full of them.
Leave aside all your worry about the present and all your anxiety about the future; occupy yourselves with what you have to do at each moment as it is given to you, and do not burden the day which is passing with doubts about the day to follow.
God gives us not only the will to do what is right, but also the grace to accomplish it.
–  St. John Baptist de La Salle[1]

There is no lack in opinion surrounding the current world COVID-119 pandemic. The most honest assessments – such as those by Anthony Fauci or Andrew Cuomo – appear to be the most successful in providing reliable, fact-based, and personable perspectives. They remind me of how De La Salle himself dealt with the legal, ecclesiastical, inter-personal, and administrative challenges that confronted him on a regular basis and all throughout his 40-year relationship with the Brothers and with many others in France. His approach was invariably decisive, consultative, honest, and generous, fueled by his deep life of faith and powered by his tremendous zeal to respond to the needs that regularly reached his ears or desk. In one of his letters, he had good advice about this: “Do not let the opportunities you might find slip away, but do not hurry things.”[2]

We tend to forget that there were a number of active wars that France was engaged in during De La Salle’s lifetime: Franco-Spanish War (1635-59), Catalan Revolt (1640-59), Beaver Wars in the U.S. (1640-1701), Cretan War (1645-69), Fronde (1648-49, 1650-53), Anglo-Dutch War (1665-67) Second Anglo-Spanish War (1657-59), War of Devolution (1667-68), Franco-Dutch War (1672-78), Scanian War (1675-79), War of Reunions (1683-84), Nine Years’ War (1688-87), King William’s War (1689-97), War of Spanish Succession (1701-14), Rákóczi’s War of Independence (1703-11), War of the Quadruple Alliance (1718-1720), and the various revolts that happened inside of France.[3] These ongoing wars and social upheavals must certainly have strongly impacted many people of the time, especially in Reims in the case of wars with the Dutch, and not only when it came to the obligation to house soldiers, but also with the various taxes imposed to support these wars, not to mention the series of famines that occurred during the same time period.

When you combine all this with the political situation in different parts of France – plus Jansenism, Gallicanism, & Quietism – along with the intrigues of social position, wealth, and power in society and the Church, it’s a wonder that he was able to do so much good with so little for so many.

As all of us continue to face the direct challenges in maintaining our Lasallian institutions and relationships during these pandemic times, it is well to remember that we are not the first people that have circumstances thrust upon us, ones where we must figure out how to deal with immediate and long-term needs both personally, professionally and societally. Recalling what others have faced – and faced successfully – should give us some comfort and convince us that by drawing on our best and deepest connections, we will most directly benefit those near and far.

Over the last few days, some general thoughts have come to mind. They may be of help to you. Here they are either in verse (below) or by way of a very simple musical setting (bit.ly/Threads-GVG).

Every choice, every gesture, every action that we take;
They are all part of the fabric of the shared lives that we make.
Woven close to one another by the frail threads we contain.
Let us care for and deliver on the best threads that remain.

As the breeze in the forest reaches every smallest place,
As the bright sun in the heavens touches gently every face,
Let the warm love that we harbor be released in every case,
So that all that makes us human may each silent need embrace.

We are all tied together in a world that is our home.
In the silence of the night stars, we are bright stars of our own.
If the small drops in an ocean move as one and move alone,
So the things we do for others are both shared and still our own.

With the grace of our nature, with the deep love that we bear,
With the strength that lies within us, with unbroken power to care,
Nothing truly can destroy us, whether found both here and there.
What’s within is what has made us. Let it shine out everywhere.

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PDF of this reflection is HERE.

Photo by Rosie Kerr on Unsplash

[1] This is a combination of two quotations from De La Salle – first sentence and last sentence – and a section from the biography of De La Salle by Jean-Baptiste Blain where he quotes his speech to the Brothers on the topic of Providence.

[2] De La Salle, John Baptist. The Letters. Translated by Colman Molloy, FSC. Edited by Colman Molloy and Augustine Loes. Romeoville, IL: Lasallian Publications, 1988. Pg. 75.

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars:_1500%E2%80%931799

Lasallian Reflection - Giver-Taker & Talker Doer

Jesus Christ compares those who have charge of souls to a good shepherd who has great care for the sheep. One quality he must possess, according to our Savior, is to know each one of them individually. This ought also to be one of the main concerns of those who instruct others: to be able to understand their students and to discern the right way to guide them. 

- St. John Baptist de La Salle[1]

The personal quality of Lasallian education has often been highlighted by both students, teachers, and parents. It is a quality that is part of being an “older brother / sister” to those “entrusted to our care.” We well know – or quickly come to know – that those we encounter in the classroom and around the school are eminently unique and different, sacred drops of God’s manifest presence in our daily lives. Teachers with long experience know that the strangers in their classrooms at the beginning of the school year will by the end of the year be perceived by them as highly individual characters, richly textured and nuanced – some good, some not so good, but more and more fully alive and revealed. Their personality traits, strengths, and weaknesses will have settled into the teachers’ minds in cumulative layers of awareness. Time and experience thus become privileged means for gaining occasional glimpses into the souls of our students.
     This is why the quote from De La Salle at the top of this reflection is so important. Not only is the connection made with how Jesus treated his disciples and others during his ministry, but there is a direct responsible parallel to “one of the main concerns of those who instruct others.” And that main concern is not how well the student does in class, how smart or helpful or responsive the student is to the teacher’s directions. In fact, all those other things depend on this “main concern.” The focus is rather on “to understand” and “to discern” how to guide them. It is deep listening.
     Ever practical, this concern that De La Salle advocated is not left in midair, with a hope that others will address it responsibly. There is also a practical side to it; a way to actually do it. That is seen in the 1720 school handbook, the franchise’s three-ring binder. In the description of the Admissions Register, which contains all the relevant information about each student, there is this sentence: “After all of this information has been recorded, some blank space should be left to contain what may need to be added later. Examples of what might be added are: what is the child’s character and disposition …?” [2] This is the part that the next teacher of the same student would want to see. Wouldn’t you, if you were teaching the same student? It’s a help to being able to “understand” and “discern” the student, although it certainly is not a substitute for it. Merely helpful advice.
     An example of such a record was this one: "Francis Delevieux; 8 1/2, two years at school, in 3rd section of Writing since July 1st. Somewhat turbulent; little piety at church or prayers unless supervised. Lacks reserve. Conduct satisfactory; needs encouragement to effort; punishment of no avail; light-headed. Rarely absent except when with bad companions; often late. Application moderate but he learns with ease. Twice nearly expelled for negligence. Submissive to a strong hand. Not a difficult character. Must be won over. Spoiled at home. Parents resent his being punished." [3] With that kind of description, I think most of us might have a running start at understanding a student and determining how we might guide his/her character and disposition.
     In more recent times, we’ve been provided with all sorts of systems for understanding and discerning the character of ourselves or others – Enneagram, Meyers-Briggs, Strength Finder etc. And more methods appear with each new book season. But one of the ones that I’ve found both simple and elegant was shared by a friend of mine many years ago. I don’t know if she found it or if she came up with it herself. I just find it generally helpful; not to pigeon-hole but to provide some sort of framework for understanding where a person’s dispositional inclinations are leaning.
     The quadrant chart at the top of this reflection is a crude representation of this schema. She said, “Generally, there are two characteristics that you can pick up about people. There are the Givers or the Takers, and there are the Doers or the Talkers. The best sort are the Givers and the Doers, and the worst ones are the Takers and the Talkers.” In the other quadrants are those who have a mix of different characteristics, and it’s interesting to think about professions that might fit each of the quadrants. I don’t know, for example, where I’d generally put politicians or poets. Most of us are a mix, of course, depending on “with whom” and “for what” and the like. But the cluster of what we do, like the cluster of blue dots, show a general preference for one area of the chart.
     The point of sharing this chart is to highlight the fact that each of us has their own way of understanding and discerning the students they encounter. (And this GT-TD chart seems more appropriate to adults than to developing students.) However, De La Salle’s insight is that we should have something, some intentionality, some method, by which we engage this most potentially transformative dimension of our educational ministry. His advice? “This guidance requires understanding and discernment of spirits, qualities you should frequently and earnestly ask of God, for they are most necessary for you in the guidance of those placed in your care.”[4]

     BTW. I think that De La Salle was a Giver and a Doer big-time!

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A PDF of this reflection is HERE

[1] De La Salle, John Baptist, Meditations by St. John Baptist de La Salle, trans. Richard Arnandez, and Augustine Loes, eds. Augustine Loes and Francis Huether, (Landover, MD: Christian Brothers Conference, 1994), 91 (Med. 33.1).

[2] De La Salle, John Baptist, The Conduct of Schools, Translated by F. de La Fontainerie and Richard Arnandez, FSC, Edited with notes by William Mann, FSC (Landover, MD: Christian Brothers Conference, 1996), 240.

[3] De La Salle, Jean-Baptiste. Œuvres Complètes. (Rome: Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes, 1993), 657.

[4] De La Salle, John Baptist, The Meditations, Op. Cit.

Lasallian Reflection - No Boxing Gloves Permitted

Photo by Matt Popovich on Unsplash

Do you instruct those for whom you are responsible with the attention and the zeal

God asks of you in so holy a work? By your good conduct, be worthy of this distinguished role.

Act in such a way that your life may begin today to be holy and edifying 

and continue to be such in the future.

 -  St. John Baptist de La Salle[1]

One of the reasons that humanity has been able to thrive on the earth, according to those who study human progress, is our shared sense of curiosity, our interest in the new and the different, our exploratory dispositions. It is what caused early migratory movements across land masses, the constant pursuit of better ways of life – such as farming instead of hunting -- and the development of comprehensive ways of making sense of the world through meaning-filled activities like folklore, rituals (religious and otherwise), and the arts. This sense of curiosity, this drive for knowledge and creativity, is what today causes us to enjoy wrapped packages, pick up a new book, scroll down beyond the screen, listen to gossip, and even simply get up in the morning to see what the day will bring. It all comes from an inborn, essential, and ever-living capacity for plumbing the deeper wells of the possible. It’s the motor for joie de vivre. It’s the poet’s instinct, the explorer’s drive, the lover’s persistence, and from a depth awareness / engagement perspective, it is the mystic’s contentment, exemplified in how John Baptist de La Salle came to gradually embrace his life’s journey and living in God’s loving presence, decision by decision over a long period of time.
     The beginning of any new calendar year is now celebrated worldwide with parties, count-downs to midnight, fireworks, confetti, and jubilation. Isn’t this yet another expression of the possibilities for the future, to hope perhaps previously deferred and now extended once again? We revive our motivations in mutual support of yet another chance, yet another set of days to do what we know we want to do. The new year’s celebration invests the wisdom of the old into the hope of the young; the old man of 2019 stands next to the bright-eyed baby of 2020 . . . every single year. It is an annual ritual that, again and again, attests to the deeply-rooted human dynamic of hope, of curiosity, of what is possible, of an innate hunger for the “something more” in our universe.
     David Brooks concisely describes our pursuit of this “more” in life as the second mountain, “…the one people begin climbing once the goals of the first mountain—the goals of success, personal fulfillment and happiness—have been met and found wanting. ‘If the first mountain is about building up the ego and defining the self,” he writes, “the second mountain is about shedding the ego and losing the self.’”[2] All the new year’s resolutions in the world won’t equal that insight.
     Such topsy-turvy insights into the less obvious aspects of the universe are regularly conveyed within most of the major religious traditions, most viscerally and profoundly by Jesus Christ in the New Testament.[3] With the best of intentions, we ignore or explain them away as hopelessly (!) idealistic and unachievable. And society’s popular voice is as myopic as it is ubiquitous. What’s been problematic “. . . has been what he [David Brooks] believes is the secular news media’s tin ear on issues of faith. ‘They treat it like you have changed from being Republican to a Democrat,’ he says. “As if it’s that kind of choice. ‘I used to like French fries; now I like sweet potatoes.’ You feel like there’s something sacred and mysterious that is being handled with boxing gloves.”[4]
     What, then, of our students and staff, our Lasallian educational communities? When De La Salle and two Brothers went to the school in the parish of St. Sulpice in Paris in 1688, the place was a bit of a mess. De La Salle told the Brothers to concentrate on their own classrooms, on the things that they could do within their own area of responsibility. That strategy led to the transformation of the entire school in less than a year. By focusing on the possible, the impossible gradually recedes.
     T.S. Elliot famously wrote, “We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”[5] The most worthwhile knowledge, the greatest journey, lies within. The more we can help our students and educational communities look deeper, beyond the obvious – in literature, science, history, sports, religion, etc. – the more they will be disposed (and trained) to do so in the future, to engage in their own exploring. “It is apostolic to awaken in students a serious attitude towards life and the conviction of the greatness of human destiny; it is apostolic to make it possible for them, with intellectual honesty and responsibility, to experience the autonomy of personal thought; it is apostolic to help the students to use their liberty to overcome their own prejudices, preconceived ideas, social pressures, as well as the pressures that come from disintegration within the human person; it is apostolic to dispose students to use their intelligence and their training in the service of others, to open them to others: to teach them how to listen and to try to understand, to trust and love; it is apostolic to instill in students a sense of trustworthiness, brotherhood, and justice.”[6]
     Teaching indeed is a holy work: the cultivation of curiosity, of hope, of the poet’s instinct, the explorer’s drive, the lover’s persistence, and the mystic’s contentment. Something sacred and mysterious is at work here. A sign in every classroom should read “No boxing gloves permitted.”

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A PDF  of this reflection is HERE.

[1] De La Salle, John Baptist, Meditations by St. John Baptist de La Salle, trans. Richard Arnandez, and Augustine Loes, eds. Augustine Loes and Francis Huether, (Landover, MD: Christian Brothers Conference, 1994), 174 (Med. 93.2).

[2] Bill McGarvey, “The Confessions of David Brooks,” America Magazine 221, no. 6 (September 16, 2019): 47.

[3] “The one who finds his life will lose it, and the one who loses his life because of me will find it." (Matthew 10:39)

[4] McGarvey, “Confessions,” 47.

[5] T.S. Elliot. Little Gidding. (http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/winter/w3206/edit/tseliotlittlegidding.html)

[6] Brothers of the Christian Schools. The Brother of the Christian Schools in the World Today: A Declaration. Rome: 1967. (Section 41) Slightly edited for inclusive language.

Lasallian Reflection - Gratitude's Abundance

Photo by Rosie Kerr on Unsplash

To whom ought we to give ourselves if not to the One from whom we have received everything. … This thought and the gratitude we owe him for all his goodness to us ought to have 

frequently occupied our minds and touched our hearts during this year.

 -  St. John Baptist de La Salle[1]

Have you ever noticed that the most grateful people we know are those with little apparent reason for being so? Those who give, give, and give – like Mother Teresa, Jean Vanier, and many silently busy unknown saints – have few material things. They do have great gratitude. Compared to those admired in popular culture – sports and movie stars, famous musicians and authors, online personalities, etc. – those with the least obvious advantages possess the greatest ones. Philip Yancey, who has interviewed a wide host of people, divides them into stars and servants. The stars, by and large, he found to be “as miserable a group of people as I have ever met …” But more significantly, “I was prepared to honor and admire the servants, to hold them up as inspiring examples. I was not, however, prepared to envy them. But as I now reflect on the two groups side by side, stars and servants, the servants clearly emerge as the favored ones, the graced ones. They work for low pay, long hours, and no applause, ‘wasting’ their talents and skills among the poor and uneducated. But somehow in the process of losing their lives they have found them. They have received the ‘peace that is not of this world.’” His experienced conclusion is aligned to what the Gospel proclaims: “The way up is down.”[2]
     Teachers are such servants, educating by word, example, and personality. Gospel seeds appear gently but directly, filtered by life experience, reflection, intentionality, and a genuine care for students. How, then, might gratitude be revealed within the focused, organized chaos of daily school life? What are the deeper challenges in education today to developing a real sense of gratitude? Where should we turn our attention in order to “teach” Gospel priorities?
     Young people are often energetic, curious, and given to spontaneous outbursts of well-intentioned leaps of purpose-filled activity, and popular expectations, whether in society or personal relationships, are not conducive to lengthy reflection or deep filters, especially when it comes to today’s economic drivers. “Successive echelons of youth mean a perpetual supply of unspoilt ‘virgin land’ ready for cultivation, without which even the simple reproduction of the capitalist economy, not to mention economic growth, would be all but unconceivable. Young people are thought of and paid attention to as ‘yet another market’ to be commodified and exploited.”[3] An economic juggernaut that is powered by personalized Facebook ads, clever social media and gaming advertising strategies, easily becomes a society where early Black Friday deals trump [intentional use] the genuine benefits of a convivial Thanksgiving meal with family and friends. While one might say with genuine gratitude that there are plenty of examples of young people who resist these and similar well-hidden societal forces, there is “a gathering volume of evidence casting ‘the problem of youth’ fairly and squarely as an issue of ‘drilling them into consumers’, and leaving all other youth-related issues on a side shelf, or effacing them altogether from the political, social and cultural agenda.”[4]
     This is a large part of the landscape of education today. It is the one within which the gratitude called for by the Gospel is much needed. How? “Isn't it true that gratitude springs up in our hearts more powerfully, more gloriously when what we receive is undeserved, when it is a miracle of divine and human love?” Turning the eyes of youth toward the miracle of divine and human love – in retreats, in personal encounters, in undeserved forgiveness, in just saying “hello” – is an immediate, real, and powerful agent for change. It is grounded in the conviction that God trusts us to be the love that created us. “How wonderful it would be if out of gratitude we lived in such a way as to give God joy, the joy of knowing that He has not created us in vain, that He does not believe in us in vain, that He has not put His trust in us in vain, that His love has been received, is now incarnate, not only in emotion, but in action!”[5]
     At the end of the magical video, Gratitude Revealed,[6] Br. David Steind-Rast, OSB, invites us to notice the blessings that we encounter each day: “I wish that you will open your heart to all these blessings, and let them flow through you, that everyone whom you will meet on this day will be blessed by you, just by your eyes, by your smile, by your touch, just by your presence. Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you.”
     Allow me to suggest that the capacity for gratitude itself is one of those blessings, and the more we notice its presence and exercise its agency for grace, the more we and others will find that God’s presence isn’t all that far away. In fact, we yet dwell within its silent, rich abundance.

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PDF of this reflection is HERE.

[1] De La Salle, John Baptist, Meditations by St. John Baptist de La Salle, trans. Richard Arnandez, and Augustine Loes, eds. Augustine Loes and Francis Huether, (Landover, MD: Christian Brothers Conference, 1994), 384 (Med. 90.2).

[2] Yancey, Philip, I Was Just Wondering, (B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1989), p.91.

[3] Bauman, Zygmunt, On Education-Conversations with Riccardo Mazzeo, (Polity Press, Cambridge, UK) Pg. 55.

[4] Ibid., Pg. 56.

[5] Bloom, Anthony, Sermon on Gratitude, www.mitras.ru/eng/eng_96.htm

[6] https://vimeo.com/282760088