Moved.

We’re all mac-y now: http://web.mac.com/zonker1984. Then click “Kate’s Blog”.

welcome home.

“It always comes as a surprise when I feel my withered roots begin to grow.”

A few weeks ago, I wrote these words that even then I did not truly believe or understand: ‘I am becoming more and more convinced that this search for God, for justice, for vocation is really just a search for home – a place where each of us can feel just rooted enough to stand firm through the storms of life.’

When I wrote those words, I was really trying to justify my recent choices to myself. To explain a decision that I was still convincing myself was the best option in response to my situation. I wrote those words to reassure the people with whom I was sharing that I wasn’t just running back to a comfortable place to settle back in to a passive existence.

And now, later, I am brought back to those words – and I begin to believe that they are true.

No place is perfect. No place will satisfy me forever. But for now, being here is right. Soon enough, I will embark on another adventure. The pendulum will swing back towards wanderlust and exploration. Eventually, maybe, I will settle into the perfect combination of challenge and stability.

For now though, it is okay to live with questions. Not just okay – living in tension and questions -  being grounded enough to live an examined life – is the goal.

Things I should do more often:

1. Blog. For serious. I have been extremely scarce and I don’t like it that way. “Journal” also falls under this category.

2. Hang out with kids. I dropped by the Monroe Street Fine Arts Center today to chat with the director about possibly teaching piano lessons there, and the little ones in the midst of their art classes were so cute, I couldn’t stop smiling.

3. Read. Read fiction, read my Bible, read magazines, read whatever. I miss reading. Lately I’ve been too busy either (a) worrying (b) hanging out with people [which is a find alternative to reading, don't get me wrong] or (c) traveling from point a to point b to get any substantial reading done.

But all in all, other than that big three, I’m pretty satisfied with my life right now. And, given the recent seismic changes I’ve made, that’s fairly remarkable.

Also I might be moving to an apartment on Pirate Island. Ahoy, mateys?

“creating a world inspired”

Bad religion has always favored escape, passivity, irresponsibility. By dint of fixing one’s eyes on heaven above, one does not see what takes place on earth here below.

The upward-looking must come to an understanding with the forward-looking.

We believe that our God (up above) calls us to go forward. Our faith in absolute does not immobilize us in contemplation, but hinvites us to discover him according to our means of creating a world inspired by his love: a world where justice dwells and where people love one another.

-Louis Everly

thoughts on courage. and calling.

Though there will be different chapters and different calls, there will be a theme or undercurrent that brings unity to who we are and what we are called to be. We may not see what unifies our life until we are older and we begin to look back over where we have been and what we have done. But the underlying theme of our life is there nonetheless, and each chapter will be but one expression of it. Vocational development should not be construed as the single rising curve of misconceived careerism. We are not climbing ladders, we are not doing things to make our C.V. more impressive. Rather we are working out the story of our life. Our story will include setback and failures as well as surprises and responses to opportunities we never could have forseen.

We embrace the opportunities that come today, often with little idea of the implications down the road. We are not building a career, we are responding, at this time, in this place, to a call – to a sense of vocation that is congruent with who we are and that ultimately comes from God.

-Gordon T. Smith, Courage and Calling

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“We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us” -Romans 12

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PROPHETS see the profound need for people to live in the truth they already know.

SERVANTS are particularly sensitive to what needs to be done; they think there is too much thought and not enough action.

TEACHERS believe that if people could just understand, they would know and live the truth.

ENCOURAGERS have a deep conviction that encouragement is what is required if the world is going to experience peace, justice, and transformation.

CONTRIBUTERS know how to make money and how to give it generously.

LEADERS bring together the gifts and contributions of others so that together we can bring about our common vision

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“I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God that is within you…For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” -2 Timothy 1

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We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.

-Archbishop Oscar Romero