Road Trip!

Here is the Blog I wrote on the 14th:

I took a rather long road trip today. After a later than planned start, I finally got on the road at about noon today. I got a chance to drive in the rain. It takes about six hours to drive from Austin to my parents’ house. While I was driving I had a lot of time to think. I listened to some music. I listened to the rain. I talked to a good friend. I thought about all my amazing friends in Austin. I thought about what I’m about to begin. I thought about my fears of what I’m giving going to give up. I thought about the things I don’t know yet that I’ll learn in Geneva. Yesterday, when I met with the priest at St. James’ he asked me to spend some time every week reflecting on what I’d learned that week. He also asked me what I was most excited about and what I was most afraid of giving up over there. I am really excited about the work I’m going to be doing. Although I do not know exactly what I’ll be doing, I do know that I’ll be asked to write. I’ll be asked to write thoughtful articles about social justice and faith. I know that I’ll be asked to work with students to help them write. Hopefully, the writing that they do will help them to understand better their faith and their works, as well as how the two are interconnected. I told him the thing I’m most afraid of is being poor. That is a cop out answer. I am afraid of being poor, but I know I can deal with that. I have never had excessive amounts of money. I know how to live without many accessories and necessities. What I am really afraid of is my success. I am afraid of the power of what can happen when we work with God. I am afraid of where I will be called to go. In essence, I am afraid of what I will learn about myself and God. I couldn’t have put that into words yesterday when my priest asked me what I was afraid of.

I also have received a lot of money recently. Amazing how people are willing to support me and this mission. I am so grateful to them.

I also thought of a metaphor during my drive today. The metaphor may be a little trite, but I figured I could share it with you. Religion is like windshield wiper blades. We use them to help us see the road in front of us more clearly. Life is the rain that comes down on us. We can either use the blades to figure out where we’re going or we can just drive blindly down the road.