(Photo by Creative Inspirations on Pixaby)
By Sister Michele Morek
If you saw the movie, “The Miracle Worker,” you might remember the scene when the blind and deaf Helen Keller realized that the sign language representation for “water” stood for WATER. It was probably the most powerful scene in the movie.
Sister Michele Morek
Do you remember learning to read — when you first realized that those marks on paper stood for words and concepts? I remember my first “Helen Keller” moment clearly. It was on a sandy beach at Padre Island, Texas. My aunt took a stick and wrote “MICHELE” in the sand. The sense of discovery was overpowering: those lines stood for me, in some way. It was mysterious and thrilling. It was another step along the way to grasping a childish sense of “self.”
This summer at our Ursuline Community Days we were reminded of the names that our Madre, Saint Angela Merici, gave us in her writing, reminding us of the astonishing dignity we have as “spouses of the Son of God” and Angela’s “cherished daughters.” And she gave us many other distinguished titles besides.
I’m sure she would now include our Associates in her address as “Cherished Sons and Daughters!”
Would that all humans – men, women, children, oppressed minorities and vulnerable people – could feel able to claim dignity like that for themselves.
- What name would you like to hear Angela or God speak to you? What title would you like to claim? (Try a few on for size!)
- Do you remember a time when you first encountered a concept of “self?” Was it a positive experience?
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