May I have your attention?

St. Thomas has been a truly wonderful environment for me to grow and deepen my faith, while enduring the most difficult study and stressful times. I can't imagine going through the challenges of law school in any other way. I lead a weekly worship, attend Weekly Manna, and attend a weekly Bible study, all here at the law school. In addition to being involved in several communal faith practices, I am engaged in dialogue with God on a daily basis, most often tucked in the middle of a busy day at school. I pray every day for peace of mind with the stresses de jour, and for my fellow members of the law school community to find the same. For that reason, one might think I have a great sense of peace about exams, papers, and finding a job after law school. Alas, like nearly everyone else, I struggle to place my trust in God that all these things will transpire according to God's will. It seems like no sooner do I turn a care over to God than another pops up; another paper, another prayer request from a friend, another unforeseen obstacle in my path.

Nonetheless, this is the first time in my life I've been so engaged in both a communal faith life and a regular prayer life. Have you ever wondered if the reason we have a lot to pray about, a lot of concerns to give over to God, is so that God has our attention to tell us something?

I'll share an example that has grabbed my attention lately. I attended Susan Stabile's Mid-Day Reflection on the meaning of the saints to our lives last week, here at the law school. (for more on that, see this). When I was thinking about people who've been saints to my life, the life of Dorothy Day came to mind (a short bio can be found here.) I shared with the group that I have been often inspired by her fearless devotion to her faith and her work in God's name. She founded the Catholic Worker, the visible face of which is a regular social justice publication and houses of hospitality throughout the U.S. and Canada, and the world. The houses of hospitality are communal homes for people devoted to work in social justice, often working for little or nothing. Still, Day never worried about how a rent bill would be paid, even though most of the household members of the Catholic Worker houses of hospitality are what we would call indigent. Her faith in God was so strong that she was able to place her trust in God that food would be on the table, lights would be on and rent would be paid because the workers in the house were answering God's call. That trust and faith is an inspiration to me, and my reflection on this lingered long after the lunch gathering.
Just a few days later, I was researching something really quite unrelated when I came across an article that by no means should have been turned up in my search. The article was about the message Dorothy Day's work and words have for the way we think about Work in the modern day. I made a note of the strange coincidence, printed the article, and went on about my work.
Then, a few days later, a guest speaker at Weekly Manna read from a book by Jim Wallis, a social justice activist, writer and theologian. (his bio can be found here). Jim Wallis is another person, though living, who I consider a saint in my life. At least as far as I can tell, every aspect of his life is devoted to living out the social Gospel in real, tangible ways.
You might be wondering how I went from Dorothy Day to Jim Wallis. In 2004, I received a scholarship to attend a two-week pilgrimage to learn about work and social justice. It was then that I learned about Dorothy Day, visited the very first Catholic Worker house in New York City, and saw how the Catholic Worker Newspaper is produced. Two days later, when my clan of pilgrims ventured to Washington, D.C., we stayed in a Catholic Worker house in Georgetown, and visited the Sojourner office, where Jim Wallis, CEO of Sojourner Magazine, presided over a weekly worship that is attended by members of the publication staff, their families, friends and neighbors. The worship was followed by a community meal.
I met Jim Wallis and learned about Dorothy Day in the same week. Those moments were part of a pilgrimage that changed my life. I came to law school, motivated in large part by my desire to provide justice for workers.
I haven't figured out exactly what I'm supposed to get from this, but I certainly no longer believe that these moments are coincidences. I will continue to pray about it, and return to the memories and musings from that pilgrimage, to look for the answer. The bottom line is: God has my attention, and I'm listening now.
So we come full circle. I am in constant dialogue with God because I have so many cares on my heart, so many concerns for my life, friends, family, community and world. If I hadn't been so engaged, if I didn't have so many worries, would I have been listening for what God was trying to tell me?