WALKING IN YOUR SHOES

In 1949 Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion wrote that, "It is easy enough to tell the poor to accept their poverty as God's will when you yourself have warm clothes and plenty of food and medical care and a roof over your head and no worry about the rent. But if you want them to believe you, try to share some of their poverty, and see if you can accept it as God's will yourself.”

Over the last several years, we’ve offered our students the opportunity to participate in a Homeless Plunge with an effort to give them the opportunity to share in the physical poverty others experience. We introduce them to services that are available in the Denver area, focusing on what life is like for the close to 1000 teens who experience homelessness in the Denver area. What is it like to have to go to school with your homework and projects completed, be prepared for tests and quizzes and find a place to shower so no one knows what you are experiencing? It’s difficult to really know—even as we attempt to walk in someone else’s shoes—because our realities, perceptions, support and safety nets look different and therefore give us a different starting point. It can be difficult to even imagine ourselves into the space that could have led someone to an existence without stability. The Homeless Plunge experience that this year’s crop of students will be participating in next week gives the opportunity to participate in a more active version of the imaginative prayer that David Card ’87 wrote about in last week’s blog as we attempt to put ourselves into someone else’s life.

Much as we struggle to walk in the steps of another, it is even more challenging when confronted with the emotions and pain that another person feels that just doesn’t affect us personally at all. In our daily work experiences inside the Diversity Office, we are often reminded of this reality in chatting with a few freshman, sophomore and junior students of color who expressed the difficulty that they were having with the predominantly white culture of Regis Jesuit. They shared that their fellow classmates were using language that was just offensive or culturally insensitive enough to have them feeling hurt and ostracized, but sublte enough for most teachers not to pick up on, or doing so under their breaths so the teachers couldn’t hear it. Their classmates just couldn’t see or recognize the pain they were causing and insisted that they were just joking or that “others don’t care.” Sometimes in communities and families, its not about right or wrong, but who is hurting.

We are constantly exploring and reflecting on the historical and societal reasons for some of this behavior in regards to race and ethnicity. We are learning more about the Jesuits and their connections to this history both in positive and not so positive ways, yet this feeling can be universal for people in so many situations: because of socioeconomics, because of age, because of ability, because of religion, because of race, because of….. and the intersection or overlap of these issues.

To help us to build the empathy and openness required for this part of stepping into someone’s shoes, we apply that imaginative Ignatian prayer technique, through immersion experiences like the Homeless Plunge or the recent journalism trip to the border to engage migrants. Our Diversity Action Group meets weekly to discuss different perspectives and where they come from, understanding that “diversity” doesn’t mean “my way is the right way” but rather it means there are many different ways of thinking and many voices, each deserving to be heard and having a place of value. Our Parent Diversity Committee and Spanish Language Parent Group gather to share struggles and information with each other. We learn how to empathize with those around us by being in dialogue with each other and hearing stories in their own words. We build community to support each other. Students learn that they have their parents to help them along with teachers who understand and are passionate about helping support them. Through these dialogues, the community and the support, we come to understand that we are not trying to get to an “end,” but we are trying to allow God to speak to us through all that we do and experience. When we allow ourselves to imagine, as our Ignatian spirituality calls us to do, what THE OTHER—the one who is not me—might feel we come closer to feeling the presence of God through the understanding, trust and acceptance for all those around us.

_______________

Christina Vela and Rosalba González-Hill serve as Regis Jesuit's Diversity Directors and also both teach Spanish. Christina has worked at the school since 2001 and Rosalba since 2010.