Catherine's Cafe Vocation Blog

How am I aligned-- with people? With Universe? With God? Those questions have come since I fell flat on my face the other day.   I was walking with two friends and a dog. One said, “please hold the leash for a minute. . ..”   So, while watching the dog I missed an inch difference in the sidewalk pieces.    My shoe caught the difference, and splat! I was face down in front of God and everyone. As I picked myself up and shook myself off, I remembered that some time ago I had gone to a chiropractor.   Realignment of body is supposed to cure many bodily ills.   I thought it a good time to check my alignment.   I’ve been getting realigned for a couple of weeks now. I am feeling stronger and healthier. So how do I realign with people, Universe and God? You will tell me through prayer, meditation and Gospel. Yes. I need to remember to realign daily. Some of us met with an historian of religious life a couple of weeks ago.   We reme...

The nonprofit where I work is a leader and active participant in a local community that desires to become its best self. We work together across sectors and systems - in concrete and visible ways - to give expression to a vision of community where everyone knows that everyone counts. This year will be the fourth time I’ve participated in our annual Sleep Out campaign that always begins in November and ends the last day of December. The generosity that people show helps our organization provide emergency housing assistance to people in our service area; doing what we can to prevent homelessness. I remember the first time I slept in my car on our campaign kick-off night. I was cold, even with layers of clothing (this IS Minnesota), feeling cramped in my small car, and unable to fall asleep. Throughout the night, I thought of the many, many people - some I have met - for whom homelessness is a lived reality. Together, one day at a time, my work and extended community of visio...