Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Thought of the day: There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. Soren Kierkegaard

Today at breakfast Dorota informed the team that we would be meeting to review the team goals. I am insistent that no one mention anything having to do with our time here ending and tell her that I don’t want to meet even though I know I must. To think of our time here ending brings a deep and profound sadness that I am not yet prepared to face. No one could have ever told me, I would never have fully understood at the beginning of this journey how much I would learn and how my eyes would have been opened, surely I have been the student. And as we met to discuss our team’s goals one thing was evident, our goals have been met but just how they were exceeded and expanded everyone’s definition. For instance when we choose to teach conversational English as one of our goals I know my thought was that I would be able to quantify what my kids learned and I would have a measurable result to look back on. I never defined it as simply interacting with the kids and speaking to them in my native tongue but through this interaction I have taught them something, I have taught them conversational English. By strict definition that would mean I have begun my own personal conversation and continued a long-standing one and through these conversations we build bridges, understanding, love, peace and justice. I guess this is what waging peace and promoting justice is really about – interacting with people so they get to know you and you them. This interaction does bring an understanding of each other and if we understand each other we can love and tolerant each other and if we love and tolerant each other we can live in peace. I believe that is the essence of all life’s journey. The truth is just this, Reymontowka, the children, Poland, have been inked onto my life as indelible as any tattoo. It doesn’t matter if I am physically present or not, I will carry Reymontowka with me forever.