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Guidance

Posted by Tug Brice on 16 Feb. 2020

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Last Monday was the Feast of St. Blaise, one of the more obscure Catholic saints. I escorted the kids to a special mass where they received a blessing in his honor. It was one of those peculiarly Catholic moments, full of history and ceremony. I was, of course, invited to participate even though I was not Catholic, but I did not. I played the good shepherd, helping control the kids so that everyone received the blessing in an orderly fashion. One of my good friends is also a sub at the school. She was handling 2nd grade during the mass, and although she is most definitely not Christian in any form or fashion, she did receive the blessing. 

I spoke with her later in the afternoon about the event and asked her why she chose to partake. She said that she wanted to be a good role model for the kids and that she was feeling a little tickle in her throat, and certainly wasn’t going to turn down a blessing of health from any dirty offering. I can’t say I blame her. Still, I had thought a lot about it both before and during the mass, and didn’t feel comfortable intruding on a moment that was so uniquely Catholic. Some rituals are special. I respect that. Religion is important to me, and I appreciate it in others. That’s part of why I do $O$.

Although we haven’t mentioned it explicitly, except for a few posts here and there, for Alan and I $O$ is an act of religious service. For Alan more than me, but I certainly see my work here as part of my spiritual practices. For me, $O$ is simply an extension of the core tenants of Buddhism for Alan, it has taken on a greater significance. More than once, he has spoken of receiving divine guidance during our journey together to bring $O$ to where it is. Given the quality of his work, which is easily some of the best design work I have ever seen, I have no reason to doubt his belief. And sometimes, the way our path has become smooth, with problems vanishing almost as soon as we can identify them, it certainly feels like there is something looking out for us.

For a skeptic, it is easy to see $O$ as the result of decades of hard work and hard-won life experiences paying off. We are the right people in the right place at the right time, doing the right things in the right way. And yeah, we both worked our butts off to get where we are and put in blood, sweat, and tears on $O$. So, of course, things are paying off. We paid our dues and now we are reaping the rewards. And the skeptics may be right.

But life could have taken us down so many different paths. It is easy for us to see how different things could have been, and how many obstacles we could have faced. $O$ has been far from easy, but it hasn’t been hard. On the contrary, we both feel as if we are finally where we should be. That everything before was prologue, and only now has our story truly begun. And if that story involves us helping people as dictated by our faith, and doing it well, what else can we call it but guidance from above?

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