Gratitude

When I am under stress, I easily become frustrated with the world—and usually the people around me. For instance, I find myself blaming drivers in front of me, like they purposefully sought out my car, knowing I was in a hurry, and decided to drive 5 miles under the speed limit in front of me on a one lane street. This has happened often on my way home driving down Church Street. Usually, just as I am about to lay on my horn and whip around the car in the opposite lane, I will see a police officer down the road monitoring the speed limit with a radar gun. I immediately think to myself, thankfully the person in front of me was going so slow, or I would have probably gotten a ticket. As I decelerate to 5 miles under the speed limit, my stress level also decreases.

While I don't believe God bothers himself with getting me out of traffic tickets, I do believe He is constantly sending me the message that the path to patience starts with gratitude. It becomes more difficult to be upset with the world around us when we recognize the many gifts we have been given. One prayer process I like to use that helps remind me to give thanks to God is from Matthew Kelly’s book The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic. The process involves the following steps: 

As we approach Thanksgiving and continue our school food drive—we are well on our way to reaching our goal of 10,000 food items—I challenged the students to take one minute each day when they wake up and thank God for three things. My hope is that with our gratitude we can change our attitude. 

CKS

This morning at assembly, I asked our students what CKS means to them. I had a variety of answers including the obvious, "Christ the King School," the altruistic, "Caring, Kind, Spirited," and the odd, "Castles, Knights, and Serpents." Other than the response from the child who still had Halloween on the brain, most of the children had some form of the first two. 

When I am asked by parents what CKS means to me, I tell them our mission: to inspire each child to grow in the love of Christ, the joy of knowledge, and the spirit of service. Simply put, CKS stands for Christ, Knowledge, and Service. This week we kick off our annual food drive, and our goal is to bring in over 10,000 food items for those in need in our community. It is fitting that we will also celebrate Veteran's Day this week and honor the service of our military. I challenged our students to honor the service performed by these heroes by bringing in food and performing a service to the poor. 

As we continue to "embrace patience" this quarter, performing acts of service can help us better appreciate the gifts God has given us, especially as we see what others have done with less. In his letter to the Phillipians thanking them for a gift, St. Paul wrote, "It is not that I am eager for the gift; rather, I am eager for the profit that accrues to your account." St. Paul was speaking of a Spiritual account. This week, while our students deposit items to fill the food banks, I am confident they will feel the Holy Spirit depositing Peace into their lives.  

8th Graders Organizing Food Items from Day 1

Perspective

As Agents of Peace at Christ the King, we have chosen to Embrace Patience this quarter. One key to embracing patience is having perspective. When we become frustrated, angry, or upset and are ready to lose our patience, perspective--knowing what another person has experienced--can change how we feel. For example, finding out a student has experienced a loss in his life does not excuse poor behavior but it does help me have a more compassionate response to him.

Another way to gain perspective is to remember that God is trying to reach us through our experiences. To hear that reminder, all we have to do is ask, like the prophet Samuel who said, "Speak Lord, your servant is listening." Perhaps, when we are about to lose our patience with someone or something, saying these words will alter our perspective and help us hear what the Lord is trying to say. 

Parents, remember, though, that while listening to the Lord may look like this for us, 

It will probably look like this for our children. 

Just because it looks different doesn't mean they aren't listening. Enjoy your families and Embrace Patience.