Thanksgiving And Change

 Today, the Jesuit high school I teach at in downtown Baltimore closed early for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, and to be honest, I am quite happy about it as I can use a few days off.  It has been a really interesting past couple of months as my whole life has done an extreme paradigm shift that in many ways I am still recovering from.  But, I was reminded of something today at the school prayer service that was held at the Polish parish sanctuary next door (very beautiful church, I must say too - it is Holy Rosary in downtown Baltimore, and was a historically Polish congregation for many years).  Due to the fact that a large percentage of the student body is not Catholic, the school decided to hold a Thanksgiving prayer service instead of a Mass, and the person chosen to give the sermon was our IT man at the school, who happens to also be a Protestant pastor.  The message he gave was actually quite good - it stressed that thankfulness is a builder of faith, in that by thanking God in our present situation, we can build faith to believe in a positive change.  Most of what the man spoke about I have lived out this past couple of months, and in all honesty it is something I am hoping to never go through again.  Yet, I also have seen God at work, and he brought so much together that this Thanksgiving represents a new dimension in being thankful for me - I have seen God at work, even in the most dire of circumstances, and my faith is stronger now as a result.  That in essence was the message today in the prayer service too.  I wanted to open up this week's thoughts by mentioning that, as it fits into the theme of everything.

It has also been a week of some progress so far.  To begin, I was finally able to get Zoe, my rabbit, a new home.  I walked her up the street a few blocks to a nice guy who decided to adopt her, and that is a big relief.  I do love that little rabbit, but in all honesty I just don't have the faculties to take care of her anymore like I used to, and she deserved better.  Thankfully, that happened for her now.  Also, yesterday I finally got the hard bound copy of my dissertation, the thing that earned me the title "Doctor."  I was overly impressed with it, although I had to go through my personal publisher Lulu to print it.  It looks like an official dissertation, and it is the magnum opus of years of education.  Now, in a couple of weeks I can get the regalia to go with it thankfully.  

There are many things to thank God for, even this place I am living.  It is a simple place - just a room when I was used to a whole house.  But, it is at an affordable rent price and the landlord is good to work with.  I also have two decent roommates in Joel and James as well - the three of us are all different in our walks of life, but we get along well and they are good guys in all honesty.  I am also thankful for the best job I have ever had right now, and the most money in salary I have ever made - this was a total surprise for me, but I couldn't be happier.  Sure, I would rather personally be teaching college students instead of 11th graders, but you have to start somewhere, don't you?  And, I plan on doing the best I can at this position, and consider it also a vocation - there are issues obviously with some of the kids (they are overwhelmingly minority kids, and many of them are from low income households, which makes things challenging sometimes), but God put me there for a reason.  There may be a few of them whose lives I can impact for the better, and I want to make sure they get that opportunity.  I already have one who is wanting to be baptized, which is fantastic, and that is true evangelization at work.  There are days I do dread classes (especially my first-period group - Lord have mercy, they are a challenge!) but overall I am proud of what I do.  And, more importantly, I thank God for blessing me with this vocation.  

In the coming months, I am sure that things will begin to come together as the dust of the chaos of the past couple of months settles and I am able to start rebuilding life again.  It is a process, and there is much to do, but it can be done.  Mostly depending on God's strength and his timing, I am sure of it.  

Any rate, that is my Thanksgiving insights for this year, and I look forward to an even better report next year.  Have a blessed Thanksgiving, and will see you next time.