http://www.fteleaders.org/ en Copyright 2012 2012-01-30T15:45:11+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/go-with-all-your-heart/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/go-with-all-your-heart/ I want to add my voice among all of this Black Friday Holiday Gifts In Yo Face Must Have Deals Grouponcopious Ticking Time Bomb You Can’t Afford This Except for Today O M G Why Do We Do This Every Year Extreme Makeover Madness. Gift-giving is great. Giving gifts that are meaningful is also great. But let’s be honest. If I were to tell you that instead of buying you something this year, I donated money to a charitable organization on your behalf, would we still be friends this time next year? Now you’re just envious of some Mongolian family who has a water buffalo that you could’ve used… or re-gifted to a co-worker. So instead of creating a spirit of covetousness, let’s meet in the middle... Voices of Service 2011-12-05T14:26:42+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/changing-systems-personally/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/changing-systems-personally/ I attended the funeral of Marion Zwicker. She was 80 years old. She and her husband, Otte, and their 55-year-old son, Kurt are special people. At one time, they were my parishioners and model church members in terms of attitude, service, and support. You could also say they were change agents, people who made things happen. With four others, they started up an educational center for developmentally disabled adults. Years later, the founded a jobs center for the same population. They did what needed to be done to make sure their son, Kurt, had the service he needed to have a full life as a disabled adult. Kurt was perhaps the most valuable member of our parish... Voices of Service 2011-10-25T16:41:47+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/unbolting-the-door-musings-of-a-former-volunteer/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/unbolting-the-door-musings-of-a-former-volunteer/ What does freedom look like? I am a wind lover. As a child I loved running barefooted in the wind and climbing a certain tree with my best friend where we could feel the wind more intensely. We would compete to see who could climb the highest and then we would stay awhile longer, waiting for the wind to sway the branches back and forth. I don't have quite as much freedom to do these things anymore but I continue to value the wind and as I have come to see her as a metaphor for the Holy Spirit, I learn to feel her presence in other areas of life. Feeling her movement in the first event I attended with Volunteers Exploring Vocation surprised and excited me. The few days I spent with VEV participants in Atlanta were the best days of my year in service. I was suddenly surrounded with other young adults asking many of the same questions as I was.   Voices of Service 2011-05-24T16:19:37+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ashes-to-ashes/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ashes-to-ashes/ My Lenten discipline is far from original. In fact, I stole the idea after hearing it from someone last November. BUT I will venture forth and commit for the next 40 days to… writing a letter to the people in my life for whom I am thankful for and have been meaning to keep in touch with, but for many, many lame excuses have let the pages of the daily Far Side calendar get torn and tossed in the trash before I’ve had a chance to say, “Hello, again.”   Voices of Service 2011-03-18T12:15:01+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/volunteers-update-from-nashville/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/volunteers-update-from-nashville/ The middle of the service year is a time for service programs to take time and evaluate what could done better or in new ways to support our volunteers. Volunteers have entered programs to serve those entrusted to their care and enter into relationship with them – whether they are children, adults, families or communities. Serving those in need, volunteers face the daily realities of being worn down. Consistently giving of oneself leads to a need for physical and spiritual renewal. For a number of years, Volunteers Exploring Vocations (VEV) and its member programs have been working together to provide that renewal for our volunteers. On January 30th and February 1st... Voices of Service 2011-02-16T16:10:32+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/as-a-lasallian-volunteer/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/as-a-lasallian-volunteer/ by Garret Philbin, Jenn Tyndall, Joleen Wagner, and Alex Downes-Borowski Discernment is like trying to put together a matching outfit when you’re colorblind. You know that you need a top and that you need a bottom but you have more than one option for each and trying to find a combination that works, without the ability to recognize color, could take some time. Physical and human resources become important as you identify the appropriate apparel that will work for you. When it comes to discernment, going it alone without the ability to identify the unknown may not provide you with the best outcome. Long-term service has the potential to offer the physical and human resources that can guide you to your call. As a Lasallian Volunteer (LV), you are given... Voices of Service 2010-12-06T13:42:23+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/dancing-with-the-saints/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/dancing-with-the-saints/ Dancing. The whole world seems crazy about dancing. All over the place people are talking about “Dancing with the Stars” or “So You Think You Can Dance”. It makes me quite uncomfortable. I was never much for dancing. As an adolescent, I remember the feelings of betrayal, when my closest friends, those who at one time hung with me at the side of the room at the school dances and would run out of the room when there would be a “lady’s choice” announced, reached the point when they gave up their spot on the wall and started dancing! Some of those feelings changed on Pentecost Day this past May. Voices of Service 2010-08-17T15:42:20+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ruining-lives/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ruining-lives/ There’s a quip that gets repeated a lot – that these long-term volunteer programs will “ruin your life.” Some might argue that the opposite is true – spending a year or more working for peace and justice, living in community, and working for little to nothing actually enrich and transform, opening us up to the beauty and possibility in the world like nothing else. Actually, I think most former volunteers would agree with that argument. But this recent conversation about decision-making reminded me why we talk about volunteer service ruining our lives. Once you know what’s possible – how little money can sustain you, how life-giving community living can be, how a small individual effort can in fact make a difference in the world – it’s hard to go back to what you thought you knew, or what you thought life should be like. Old plans just don’t seem to fit, anymore. All of a sudden, you have to take into account this glimpse you’ve gotten of life lived another way, and it throws things into tangled messes that you’re left to unravel.  Voices of Service 2010-06-23T13:53:33+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ignoring-elephants/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/ignoring-elephants/ A couple of months ago I picked up Rhonda Janzen’s book, “Mennonite in a Little Black Dress.”  It is one of those reads that can cause you to laugh out loud.  I found it to be a good reminder of my Mennonite heritage.  I believe that more books need to be written that help explain Mennonite cultural idiosyncrasies. Voices of Service 2010-05-13T18:18:32+00:00 http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/cornell-west-live/ http://www.fteleaders.org/blog/entry/cornell-west-live/ At the end of April, I witnessed Cornell West live in a presentation in Princeton, New Jersey along with my VEV colleague Wayne Meisel and hundreds others.  As you might imagine, it was brilliant intellectually as well having a feeling that was a bit like being in the Black church.  For one hour, West inspired those gathered with insights and observations about society, the church and service in the world.   Voices of Service 2010-05-06T17:39:41+00:00