Whenever Ignatius would end a meeting with young members of his Society or would sign a letter to missionary priests in another land he would nearly always close with the charge to, "Go, and set the world on fire." This fire is the most potent force on earth: love. Like fire, love expands and grows; it changes its environment and gives light to the darkness."
So, where is this going? Where am I going with this? To be completely honest, I don't really know. It's just something to think about and something to reflect. It's such a powerful passage in such simple words, but words I feel like no one really ever puts together nor takes the time to think about.
This past week has been a little crazy, but also really fun. My boys and I did our discrimination activity, the one I mentioned months ago in regards to racial slurs, and it went really well. The boys were divided into two groups, one group was superior and the other, inferior. The superior group had all of the power, they were the 'kings' while the inferior group was garbage. The superior group, or the green group, could eat outside, go to bed later, couldn't do the purple teams (inferior) dishes because they were disgusting and didn't want their germs, etc. You get the point. Well the next morning, I went to the house at 6:30 before school and told the boys that during snack time, the inferior group (purple) changes to the superior group and you guys are the kings, while the green group is the garbage. We did the activity until Friday night and finished with a pasta dinner while we reflected on how the activity went and what we learned.
Surprisingly, the activity went really well. I told them, if you don't want to participate, don't. It's your choice. But for all those who took part, will enjoy the dinner tomorrow night. I mean, they are boys. Food= everything. The other thing was that they could not do anything physically. It was a huge risk, the boys could have been really mean, really awful, but I was really impressed on how the activity turned out. How the boys did and handled the situations they were in.
Following the activity, on Saturday, Kristen & I took 42 kids to a farm a little outside Santo Domingo. Hands down the best excursion with children. Kids from every house went, the older kids were given more responsibility caring for the younger ones, and let me tell you- they had them on LOCK. It was SO cool to see. Everyone just enjoyed their time. We went to a bee and honey farm where we watched the cows get milked, were able to pet the baby cows, see HA-UGE horses, saw bees, donkey's, the kids were able to ride the horses, and the older ones had the same amount or even more fun than the little ones. It was just so fun.
Those are the highlights of the past 10 days. Work hard, play harder. We work, we play, and through it all, we love. Which goes back to the passage- Go and set the world on fire. Simple words, but what does it really mean? The last paragraph in the journal says, "Ask yourself: Where is the kindling in my life? Where- in myself and others- is there lifelessness that should become something vibrant? Where are the souls ready to hear the truth? Where do I find my courage lacking? Do I live as though life is just one pointless trial after another, or as one fleeting pleasure followed by the next? How does the Lord want to fulfill my deepest desires, to fill my heart with His desires, with His Love?"
Go and Set the World on Fire this week.
Big shout out to Jen Kerrigan- She is the one that gave me the journal that had this passage and has been wonderful support. xoxo
relay race
Knuckleheads
4 days old!
learning moment
wittle baby cow
Horses were HUGE!
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