thank you for being you.

Just yesterday, I was in a class and was doing this exercise. The exercise focused on Ignatian Spirituality. Now I go to school at a Jesuit institution so I’ve heard it all. The Magis, Cura Personalis (care for the whole person), men and women for and with others. And I’ve always said yeah yeah I follow that, I’m like that, heck I won the Cura Personalis award at my school. But I always pushed it away. Now I don’t consider myself religious, and so I always tried to make it known that I separate myself from all this Jesuit stuff, however that day, yesterday, made me realize that my views on life and love are so very similar to the Jesuit tradition. This activity made me see that spirituality was more than just your relationship with God.

So I sat down thinking this lecture/activity was going to be a waste of my time, and the first thing the person said was that it all starts with you. And I turn my head to him and think, “hm…maybe this is going somewhere.” I agree totally. Everything starts with you. I believe if I can’t love myself fully and if I don’t have a healthy relationship with myself, I cannot serve and show compassion for others. Then he goes on to say that the second thing Ignatian Spirituality talks about is being attentive. You need to be aware of what’s going on around you, aware of people, of human beings, of the world. And because I live in this world, I believe I am called to be aware of everyone around me because I truly care. So I start to think to myself that this person might have something here.

And then he talks about reverence. I’m like huh? Reverence. The exclusion of the exclusion. Wtf?? So he tells a story of how he runs with Back On Your Feet. An organization that runs with people who are homeless. And he said that the first time he went there he was incredibly nervous because he was going to be around former inmates and addicts and such. But when he walked into the circle they formed, everyone went up to him and gave him a hug. No one knew him, no one knew if he was homeless or not, no one knew where he was coming from. And I just lit up inside. To be able to see past everything that a person did/has gone through/is doing right now and to really see that person as a human being deserving of love is such a glorious thing. It was so much of what I believe and so much of what I do. To truly see someone and to say to that person, "I see you," is amazing. To exclude everything that may exclude another person is to welcome him or her into your life fully. I love it.

Finally, he talked about revelation. He called it a mutualistic learning from two people. Two truly open people who are willing to see each other for who they really are. Two human beings saying to each other that I’m here for you, no matter what circumstances you have been through. It was this man feeling at home with these homeless men and women. It was they making him feel like he had a home, even though he wasn’t homeless, even though he had a nice place to sleep. He was originally from a different town, and they made him feel welcome. It’s a giving, a knowing, and an understanding that says I’m here for you. It’s knowing that love and compassion are two-way streets. It’s feeling like you aren’t alone. It’s knowing people care and caring all the same. It's meeting people where they are, not where they were or where you think they should be, but truly sitting down with someone for a cup of coffee and saying, "you're story is beautiful, thank you for sharing."