From the Ashes: Overcoming Adversity

Have you ever had the privilege of attending a captivating, autobiographical lecture by a recently published author and then have a copy of the book immediately placed in your hands?  That’s what happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I attended the King’s University College’s virtual Veritas Lecture Series to hear Jesse Thistle - whose 2019 memoir, From the Ashes is a #1 National Bestseller and is a 2020 selection on CBC’s “Canada Reads”.  The low-key, honest presentation of this Cree-Metis young man traced his stormy life from childhood abandonment through tempestuous years at school to life as a homeless addict on Canada’s streets from Vancouver through the prairies to Toronto and area.

Jesse’s arduous, heartbreaking story recounts his many years of abject poverty, homelessness, and wretched living on unforgiving streets.  Constant hunger, danger, and feeding his addiction fueled his destructive choices that frequently led to jail and finally to the rehab centre Harvest House where he began the long journey back to health and inner strength.

Several chance meetings with a beautiful flame-red-haired Lucie led to love, a home, and academic success as a graduate of Toronto’s York University where he is an assistant professor of Metis studies.  In fact, Jesse is considered an expert on homelessness and Metis history. He won the top two doctoral scholarships in the country: the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship and the Vanier Scholarship. He also received the Governor General’s Silver Medal for graduating with one of the highest grade-point averages in the country!  Jesse is the first student in York University’s sixty-year history to receive this honour.

As I shared Jesse Thistle’s journey through his forthright lecture and written account of many horrendous and key moments in his troubled life, I came to understand more about homelessness, addiction, and life on the streets.  I hope you have time to read From the Ashes or view his website and rejoice that the human spirit can conquer seemingly insurmountable trials and rise like the phoenix to great heights of success, care, and compassion, just as Jesse has done.

-Sister Jean Moylan, csj

The Gift of Labour

Well, well, well, here we are again, hopefully somewhat rested after an unusual five months of dealing with the coronavirus forces that have intruded into our lives.  One glance at the calendar shows us that we are staring Labour Day in the face. This year, we are eager more than ever to embrace our place in the workforce.  However, this September, many people are searching for employment opportunities that help fire the economy and give personal satisfaction and monetary rewards.

If we’ve been fortunate enough to have had steady work at our job sites or home office during this pandemic, we’ve been the lucky ones. On the other hand, if we’re among the many who have suffered job losses that may never return, we feel sad, blue and even depressed.

Around me, I hear comments from people such as, “I’ve worked all my life and never been unemployed,” or “I’ve never missed a day of work in thirty years”.  Others wonder, “When will the world return to normal? I just want to feed my family”.

Suddenly, we no longer yearn for the weekend or a couple of days respite. We realize what a gift it is to have satisfying work. Work gives life dignity and provides motivation to get up in the morning. Honest labour is a boon to the economy, to others and to further the development of the world.

Yes, I sometimes begrudgingly drag my body out of bed and off to work but I usually return home tired but aware that my work has meaning for myself, my family, and all those whom my life touches. 

This Labour Day, let’s not forget to pause and reflect on the gift of work.  

-Sister Jean Moylan, csj

He Didn't Even Take Off His Shoes...!

My nephew was away for several days. After his return, I said to his four year old daughter, “I bet your Daddy was happy to see you when he got home.” With a big smile she said, “He sure was. When he saw me, he rushed over and scooped me up and hugged me and he didn’t even take off his shoes!”

It struck me then and has since that this is a wonderful image of God: a God who is so eager and loves us so much that God scoops us up in a loving embrace without even taking the time to take off his shoes.

-Sister Nancy Sullivan, csj

Zoom for Dummies

Confronted with the necessity of learning to use zoom, and wading through a variety of apps, I managed to install a zero-cost Zoom app on my computer.  I had already mastered the skill of opening a Zoom meeting by clicking on the link sent to me via e-mail.  I bravely joined a small group of learners in an on-line webinar taught by Sister Kathleen, a patient member of my CSJ community.  With some extra private coaching, I succeeded in learning computer etiquette, to check the volume of microphone and speaker, join a meeting, move between gallery view and speaker view, adjust my camera, mute, unmute, leave the meeting, etc. Now I was ready to learn how to initiate meetings - on to the advanced class!

In the first session, I was expelled because I somehow managed to render my Zoom app “encrypted” and the resulting cacophony made the meeting inaccessible to all.  My teacher refused to give up; more private tutoring followed.  In the second class, I was again invited to exit the session early after a guided exercise in leaving and then rejoining the group resulted in my computer having two almost simultaneous versions of the meeting occurring, not quite synchronously, for all participants.  Nevertheless, our instructor has not despaired.  More private tutoring and assurances that I could master this next step have given me a modicum of confidence.  This evening, I have a semi-private lesson scheduled in which my intrepid teacher will coach another student and me in learning how to invite each other to schedule a Zoom meeting. Fortunately, our teacher can rove between her students’ adjacent locations to coach each of us.  I wish her success and hope for a happy outcome.

“Computers are a means of teaching us humility”

In my deplorable state I am encouraged by knowledge if children can learn to use computers then so can I! And I am comforted by a remark from Connie, one of our most accomplished staff members (who has shown remarkable restraint and patience in dealing with my computer woes).  Computers, she says, are a means of teaching us humility. Developing a new skill will yield added benefits.

- Sister Patricia McKeon, csj

Our World Needs More Women Leaders

For centuries leaders in government, business, and professions were men; women were regarded as unfit for leadership.  We are cognizant of ‘the glass ceiling’ that subtly hampers the advancement of women in politics, business, education, religion, or the law. In our time, there are efforts to correct the gender imbalance of power and end discrimination based on gender. However, there may be more important reasons for promoting female leadership than fairness: Women leaders tend to operate with a perspective, focus, and process which differs from that of male leaders. Although characteristics of excellent leadership are not exclusively male or female, our history and traditional ways of raising children have shaped our expectations of how leadership is exercised.  Some examples of women leaders who changed our society:

Emily Murphy, Canadian women's rights activist, jurist, and author.

In 1916, Emily Murphy, a journalist, and activist became the first female magistrate in Canada and the British Empire.  On her first day on the job she was told by a defense lawyer that she had no jurisdiction to hear his client’s case because under the 1867 founding constitution she was not “a person”.  Nevertheless, Mrs. Murphy retained her position for fifteen years and became the leader of the” Alberta Famous Five” women who successfully fought even Canada’s Supreme Court ruling against them before a 1929 decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London agreed that women are persons and therefore eligible to sit in the Canadian Senate.   Emily Murphy fought for the rights of women, looked at what underlies the law to advocate for the plight of prostitutes, and worked to obtain just treatment for immigrants and orphaned children. Emily was undeterred by opposition or ridicule and exhibited unremitting tenacity in her efforts to act with justice and love for the disadvantaged members of society.

Donna Hicks is an Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University.

Donna Hicks, a psychologist, and leader in the field of international conflict was often the sole female member of conflict negotiation teams attempting to bring warring countries together. Whereas men generally focus on logic power and structures, Dr. Hicks focused on violations of human dignity and resolving the unhealed wounds which block exposing vulnerability and prevent open communication and resolution of differences. Yet, this soft power and awareness of the human need to be treated with dignity are far more successful than negotiating from a stance of power.  (See Donna Hicks. Dignity. Yale University Press, 2011).

Florence Nightingale, OM, RRC, DStJ was an English social reformer, statistician, and the founder of modern nursing.

Florence Nightingale, who was in charge of nurses in the Crimean War, was a formidable activist who brought about the reform of hospitals, medical care policies, and nursing in the late 1800s.  Jeanne Mance was the first nurse in New France and the founder of the first hospital in Canada: Hotel-Dieu de Montreal in 1645. Women, in particular, religious communities of women were leaders in founding hospitals, schools, and social services to care for the poor prior to governments taking responsibility for these services.  Dorothy Day, a radical Catholic activist, journalist, and founder of the Catholic Worker movement was cited by Pope Francis in his visit to the United States in 2015 as one of four great Americans (along with Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, and Thomas Merton). Yet Dorothy Day, who was endorsed for canonization, was at odds with the Catholic hierarchy, e.g., in her defense of the union of cemetery workers in opposition to Cardinal Spellman of New York, and in her criticism of Cardinal McIntyre and some priests of Los Angeles about their lack of support for human rights. She was repeatedly jailed because of her active stance of pacifism and opposition to the atomic bomb during WWII.  And it is interesting to note that three countries with women leaders, New Zealand, Germany, and Iceland, were remarkably successful in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

So, I ponder, How do great women leaders tend to differ from the leadership of men? Some observations:

1. Women leaders tend to focus their attention and efforts on behalf of those who are poor, sick, deprived, rejected, and needy rather than on building economic wealth or protecting one’s ego.

2. Women leaders are more inclined to work collaboratively rather than competitively.  They are more sensitive to how words and actions impact others and include this emotional content in the process of making decisions. Male leaders tend to focus on logic and overlook emotional wounds which may constitute hidden barriers to open communication.

3. Women leaders, as noted above, displayed courage and tenacity in seeking justice in the face of opposition, or ridicule. 

If we want society to change, we need to have more women leaders in places where they can influence governments, religious institutions, business, law, and social structures.

-Sister Patricia McKeon, csj