This week has been marked by becoming more involved in the neighborhood and city. On Wednesday, I attended a "home meeting" through my church. Home meetings are small group meetings that provide opportunities for connection and spiritual growth. I really enjoyed getting to connect with people at church in a more intimate manner, and I hope that this becomes a weekly place for me to know and be known by others.
On Thursday, I participated in my second virtual meeting of the Philadelphia Grotto (caving club). While meeting virtually is not nearly as exciting as it would be to go caving in person together, I still enjoyed connecting with people who share a love for caving.
Then on Saturday, after an awesome run along the river, a walk in the neighborhood with Tom, and some time in the garden, Deb and I attended a Spanish mass at the Mother of Mercy House that is right down the road. I had been wanting to attend this for several weeks, but because I am neither fluent in Spanish nor have I attended a mass before, I wanted to first attend with Deb, who has been to many masses and speaks Spanish. We really enjoyed the service and hope to continue attending. It felt very homey to me. I loved the music. I could follow along with the liturgy and know what was going on. And I even understood the gist of the message. We felt really welcomed there. It would be great for us to build relationships with the people who attend there.
It has been great to become more involved in the neighborhood and city in these meaningful ways. It is good to feel invested here for the year and to use my time intentionally.
I have also found myself really feeling homesick for college. I miss my friends and community there. I miss adventuring each week. I miss designing and facilitating experiences for others. I am realizing that this "missing" is perhaps quite central to Mission Year for me. I just had an amazing college experience and now I am thrown into the middle of Kensington - indeed, right in the middle of it - left figuring out who I am and what my purpose is. I am left figuring out how all that I have learned and become passionate about over the past few years fits into my life now, and what the way of life I cultivated in college looks like here. What a great space a gap year is to figure these things out, with the support of my community here, my college community, and my community from home. I am thankful to have this year to wrestle with these things.
As always, thanks for following along with my journey.
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