How much have you grown in the last 5-6 years?
Yesterday, I had the privilege of praying and retreating with our 5th and 6th year teachers. One of the questions for reflection was how much they had grown and changed since starting at a Jesuit school. As I reflected with them, I considered how I’ve grown in the last fourteen years of being an Ignatian Educator.
In some ways, it’s hard to put all the growth into a nice little list to share. Jesuit education and the wonderful people I work alongside have completely transformed me in so many ways… and they continue to challenge me to be open to growth today.
Among other things, I have learned to regard the fullness of Catholic teaching… teaching that honors the human dignity of every, single person.
I have learned the truth that God loves me (and you) no matter what.
In many ways, Jesuit education also prepared me for my own children – to see and honor them in all their unique beauty.
But of course, like most growth, this growth has not been without its aches and pains. That’s why I love this image painted by C.S. Lewis. It encapsulates for me what this growth feels like and what it signifies:
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
So how have you changed and grown in the last 5-10-15-20 years?
How is God still working within and beside you to construct that incredible palace?
