who is third from left, has been meticulously managing her father's care since his cancer was discovered 6 months ago. She has a loose-leaf notebook full of his billing documents, and a loose-leaf notebook on all his treatments, medications, and doctor's orders. She looms large in this painting, because she is a tireless and cheerful presence in her family. My husband and I are struck that this young woman would make a wonderful nurse...to be a resource for our WHOLE community... not just her family. Alas, she does not have documentation that would aid her in getting an education. How can we equip all people to use their gifts, regardless of their ethnicity or origin? How can we view people as potential assets and resources?
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: "Every modern culture that we know of is a composite. It is 'mestizo' made up of disparate elements, which nonetheless form an integrated whole. The cultural frontier is at the heart of every human grouping, every individual. A human grouping---like any other living organism---cannot survive except by confronting the unknown, the unexpected. It must re-form its identity at the threshold of every new encounter. It is engaged in a ceaseless effort of absorption, assimilation, and transmutation---of symbols, images, modes of existence. To try to arrest this movement at any given point---whether from nostalgia over the past or the dream of a sirenic utopia---is to condemn it to sclerosis and death." Jacques Audinet (Institut Catholique, Paris)
No comments:
Post a Comment