Tag: Religious Education

Indecision?

Yes, indecision. Still. And it’s only been two hours since Catechism and I’m still torn. Miss Jenny said, “Follow your heart.”

“My heart says stay. My logic says quit”, I reply without hesitating.

Our class was smaller and more intimate, and Miss Jenny and I both thought sitting on the floor (for the first time ever), would be a good state change.

If you’ve never tried to capture and maintain a group of children’s attention between 6:30pm and 7:45pm, then you have not experienced one of life’s great challenges. Whew, it’s one tough teaching assignment.

But tonight (actually last night) was glorious (not perfect), and if they were all like this, it’d be easier. But they won’t be and it isn’t.

Struggling Catechist

Wednesday. Children’s Liturgy of the Word.

Our son (9) attends Catechism, and Miss Jenny (may or may not be her real name), leads this small (12) group of future spiritual leaders, fututre parents, and possibly, future Catechists.

And then there’s me, a struggling Catechist.

The past two years I’ve been invited to assist on Wednesday nights. This was a natural and desirable opportunity, since I drive our son to attend.

Otherwise, I’d just sit in the car, doing work on a laptop, which is what I did three years ago when this started.

But this year, something is different. Mostly my schedule. It’s the busiest I can ever remember being. Ever.

In fact, the first month, September, was the busiest travel month all year. I missed every single session. October was not much different.

I feel like dropping out. If I can’t give it my all, my full attention, I feel guilty.

What would you do?

Camel’s Back & The Straw

Ever heard the phrase, “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back”?

It’s a phrase I’ve heard a 1,000 times in America. Camel’s are incredibly strong and resilient. However, they do have a breaking point, a threshold that can be too much, and they collapse.

And when the breaking point is about to be reached, it can be something as small and light as a piece of straw.

Yesterday was like that. Was asked to substitute as lead teacher for last night’s Catechism class. For a variety of reasons (one’s I feel are valid), my son and I skipped Catechism last night.

Just couldn’t do it. Preparing for and leading the class was more than I could bear. Yes, guilt started to overwhelm me. Yes, felt I couldn’t say no, but did anyway.

Yes, from a distance, it only looked like a small and light piece of straw. Carpe diem.

PS. We did do the lesson at home, so our son wouldn’t fall behind.