This is All Saints Sunday in the Christian tradition. Usually, I am at 8:30 am service to ring a bell for each person named that has died and moved on to a new space; but today I was in a hotel room in Altoona, PA. Our family went to visit my son at Penn State yesterday. We saw the football game, enjoyed visiting with our son, and listened to his dreams of the future. He is dual majoring in Public Relations and Economics, with a specialization in Sports Journalism. He writes for the Daily Collegian. He is excited for his future. He is following his dream and being the person he wants to be.
On a weekend to honor the dead, we enjoyed anticipating the future of life.
Welcome to Brothers and Sisters, the weekly meetup for prayer* and community at Daily Kos. We put an asterisk on pray* to acknowledge that not everyone uses conventional religious language, but may want to share joys and concerns, or simply take solace in a meditative atmosphere. Anyone who comes in the spirit of mutual respect, warmth and healing is welcome.
A couple Sundays ago, we went to a University Open House for my daughter to check out Seton Hill University--a Catholic Liberal Arts university in western PA. One of the biggest differences (aside from size) was the way Seton Hill began their open house. A Sister of Charity started the day with a prayer.
We are not Catholic. My daughter was concerned that going to a Catholic University might mean having to live with people selling her on being Catholic. The students we talked with said that was not their experience, at all. They all said that the school had respect for the differences of students and encouraged them to grow to make their own decisions.
This was very important to Daughter. She wants to be an Art Therapist. She loves art, almost as much as she loves our cats :-). Daughter knows that to be your best in creation, you need to have the freedom to be the person you are. She wants to let people work through their individuality in art to help them grow and heal. So, she was relieved.
We will be visiting to other Catholic Liberal Arts colleges. Art Therapy isn't a major embraced by big public universities. We will also be visiting West Virginia Wesleyan--A United Methodist college--our own Protestant denomination. I can only hope that at all of these places we hear the message that all can be free to be their own people.
Life is precious. There will be other All Saints Sundays. I hope to remember that I need to live and be the best person I was meant to be for the rest of my days. Just as my children are learning.