Part I, We are a community of
Christ
The parent unity meeting was well attended with about
ninety parents present. Father Mat opened with a lovely prayer and shared
a prayer in his native language. In translation the prayer is, “Lead me
from the unreal to the real, from darkness
to light, from death to immortality.”
Where do we want to go? We need to have vision.
Father shared the story of a dog chasing rabbit. Other dogs joined in the
chase. But after a while, one by one, the dogs dropped off too tired to
continue the chase. Only one dog remained. The lead dog (who was
the only one of the pack to actually see the rabbit) continued onward. We
need to ask ourselves, what is it that we want to become?
The vision of our community should be like Peter’s vision
of the early church where he tells us, “Finally, all of you, be of one mind,
sympathetic, loving toward one another, compassionate, humble.” 1 Peter
3:8
We all have a responsibility to be loving toward one another.
Attitudes are formed by repeated perception. Father reminded us that
attitudes can keep us from seeing the forest through the trees, that "When
you throw dirt at others, you are losing ground". Jesus tells us
“You must remove the beam from your own eye before you go to remove the
splinter in your neighbor’s eye.”
Part II, We are called to
Love one another and Live in Unity
This
is the second part in a three part outline highlighting Father Mathew’s parent
meeting held earlier this month.
Father
reminded us that no matter what we say or what we do we are bankrupt without
love. As quoted from 1 Corinthians
13:3, “If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I
may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.” Jesus tells us that, “By your love for each other you
will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” It is imperative that we show one another the love and
respect Jesus is talking about.
Even Mother Teresa encourages us in that, "It is not what you do,
but how much love you put into it that matters". By bringing our love to one another we can then have empathy
and through that compassion we can find forgiveness.
At this point in the meeting
Father divided the parents, teachers and staff into fifteen small groups which
worked silently as teams to unit broken square pieces. It was an interesting team building
exercise.
Father brought the gathering back together to further discuss unity. The Trinity shows us a unity in God. And, throughout the biblical books on the first Christians we learn that uniting together in a community is paramount to building our faith.
In nature, too, we see the giant Sequoias, the largest living things on earth, surviving thousands of years. They stood tall when Jesus walked the earth and still stand today. Interestingly, the key to their surviving is not deep roots. On the contrary, the root system of these giants is shallow and gathers its strength by intertwining with the other tree roots, uniting them in strength against time and the elements.
Europe has also been an example
of the power of uniting. The many
countries of Europe were financially weak alone, but united in one currency
they have financially strengthened their position.
We need to learn from all of
these models that our team needs to stay united as we work in our parish and
school so our community will be strong and persevere.
Part III, Communication
Guidelines and the Grass Issue
Deacon Bill came forward and told the gathering that this Grass issue is not the first upset he’s run across. Bill shared a story from back about twenty years ago when he was on the School Board. He was tasked with the project for fundraising and building the Science Lab. He had made several presentations to the Pastoral Council and was given the go ahead once the funds were secured. Bill smiled as he told us that to his surprise just as they were about to build the Lab a Council member put the brakes on the project.
Evidently the member (who is a dear friend to this day) didn’t like the location at the end of the Green Porch and wanted it moved so the view of the hills would not be blocked. Bill said that he himself was sure that he was right and it took him a while to shake that negative feeling. Bill reiterated how important it is to let those feelings go and move forward.
Father
Mathew then continued addressing the group. We are not perfect and realize that communication from the
administration needs to become better.
We are working on that. As
a community we need to remember to be professional in our speech and messages
to one another. It is important to
remain positive as we work together.
Keep in mind the tone of your communications as well. While composing letters always write as
if the correspondence is to Christ.
If you think in your mind “Dear Jesus” it will help you to build in the
proper tone and respect in your language no matter what the message.
In
this age of computers it is also important to follow courteous email
etiquette. If you have a
disagreement to express or an opposing opinion mass emails are not necessarily
appropriate. Keep in mind the old
adage, “Don’t wash your dirty linen in public.” This rule of thumb ensures dignity.
Now
for the grass issue – There is a controversy and Father will pray about the subject. He has asked for input from the
Pastoral Council, Mrs. Buchanan, the School Board, Deacon Steve and the
Facilities Department. Father is
also waiting to receive input from the parent committee working on the grass
issues. He will consider all of
this information, he will pray a Novena for nine days and he will make the
final decision. He wants everyone
to know that not everyone is going to be happy at the end, but his decision
will put the matter to rest.
Father
closed the meeting with a community prayer.