"Linked............................".

This is my eleventh year working as an assistant in an Elementary Special-Ed unit. Along the way I have been bounced back and forth between two different rooms, it all depending on just where the school needed me the most and this time around being the fourth time such transition has occurred. That said, finding myself under the direction of a teacher not only new to me, but also one who is a big change from the lady in charge the last time I was stationed in this location, has been challenging only in the sense of yet not being assigned any special schedule. Each day seems to possess its own agenda, each not quite the same as the one before, no repetition in so far as ever knowing exactly what to do. Nonetheless, being flexible has always been a part of this and, to tell the truth, I’m not only enjoying the kids, I’m comfortable with the position as it stands. As it turns out, this fellow is about twenty-five, married, and a Catholic who lives what he believes. The two of us certainly have enough to keep us occupied otherwise between unloading and loading our five on the big yellow bus; but that doesn’t mean our dialogue for seven hours is restricted to the job at hand. I’ve learned that he is a “fan” of Thomas Merton, that he is open to “Christ in me”, and that we have much in common when it comes to seeking the reality of God in our life. While our faith is packaged in individual boxes, our journey and our environment bringing it to us from opposite perspectives, yet conversation doesn’t turn into argument, an inner connection maintained through the Holy Ghost. He’s searching out “contemplation” and “meditation”; I talk of being “baptized in the Spirit”; and a minute or two here and there is certainly no Bible study. We are not neglecting that which we are being paid to do. It’s just nice finding common ground for chat as we mosey down the trail……