Knocking on Doors and Asking for Assistance
The spiritual discipline of knowing you can't do this alone
“Sometimes the circumstances at hand force us to be braver than we actually are, and so we knock on doors and ask for assistance. Sometimes not having any idea where we’re going works out better than we could possibly have imagined.”
—Ann Patchett, What Now?
Twice a year I leave home and enter into a space of teaching, listening, liturgy, and connection at Friends University where I serve as a residency lecturer for the Masters in Christian Spiritual Formation and Leadership program.1 I’m writing this from my room in the retreat center where we stay during the residencies.
I love the work, but I hold the job loosely, always aware of the possibility that this could be my last time here if circumstances change for one of a million reasons. Or I could be doing this for a decade.
So far, I keep coming back.
It’s not that we all — the students and fellow leaders — think alike or that all the teachers agree on all the things.
It’s not that Kansas is such a fascinating place to visit (though kid-Emily’s dreams have come true because Kansas is obviously a necessary first step to Oz).
It’s a whole day of travel from North Carolina to Wichita and nearly a week away from home (twice a year).
But here I still am, doing the thing.