balance

Well, it's starting to look like I'm going to pay about $85 this next year for the priviledge of running with large groups of people.

One of the things I want to do in my life is run a marathon, and there's going to be one in May. The LakeShore Marathon of Chicago.

Plus there will be an AIDS Run/Walk nearer to the end of this month in which six out of six of the people living in this house have expressed interest.

I'm in no great shape myself, but I have been- even recently. And the way I look at it, 27's a pretty good year to run a marathon. I started training today.

Speaking of which, Happy Birthday, Joel. I'm a triplet now with my older brother and sister. Funny how things work out.

But here's what's going on with me.

I spent the week meeting with people at Holy Cross. I've learned a lot about the church from the people I've met with. One of the most important things I've learned is that when I had said before how amazed I was at the number of things this church does, I had no idea what I was talking about. There is so much more.

I'm meeting with more people this week- learning more yet about what goes on. And I'm going to begin to try to put a schedule together of the things I will be doing in the coming year. When people offer me advice, they say to keep my schedule bare, because things will pile up on it no matter how full it is. It's best to start with a laid-back life so that perhaps I can wind up with a merely super-busy one, as opposed to a pulling-your-hair-out-haven't-slept-in-four-days-stressed-out-state-of-confusion.

I want to have about a forty hour workweek, so Sr. Angie says I should schedule about thirty. That's going to be really hard. I've narrowed myself down to four programs, and that could easily take me to 45 if I don't schedule well. So this week, in addition to meeting more people and talking about many things, I'm going to be scheduling.

There is a lot of gang activity in the Back of the Yards. We've had several kids of Holy Cross killed by stray bullets this year. The neighborhood is close. 150 kids per block. These kids have a lot that they are dealing with. My job this year is going to be to help give them an outlet, and to help them with their studies. And to help them learn how to avoid STDs.

Project Hope I think I have mentioned. It is the organization that works with young adults, educating them about sex, STDs, AIDS, etc. I met with Yesica, the leader, and felt so good at the end of our conversation. The program is state funded even though it runs out of the church. This means that there is kind of a fine line to be walked, but it seems as though they walk it well, and that Holy Cross is quite supportive. Simply put, when Project Hope is at the schools, they are allowed to educate about safe sex and condoms and even pass out samples. At Holy Cross, they have to be a little more discreet, but they are not kicked out because they do not adhere to the "abstinence only" policy that is pushed. They are allowed to educate. It is common sense to them. I love it.

Holy Cross does not currently have a tutoring program for high schoolers. I want to change that. The problem with this is that I also want to have art and writing programs for jr high and high school kids. Because these kids don't just need education. They need an outlet. They need a safe place to go and a safe way to express themselves.

I listened at Mass to an eighth grader talk about her religious experience in seeing the mountains in Mexico. She's a writer, I though. I was right. Sr. Angie told me later that she's had a rough time this year because a friend of hers was killed by a stray bullet of a gang fight this spring. Hurt and anger like that can't sit. That's why I need to figure out a way to also get the art and writing programs started up again.

I have two weeks to figure out how to do all of this while I talk to everyone at the parish. I can do it. It's all about balance.