Page 36 - Priorities #50 2011-June/July

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intricacies of biology to God’s wonder. For all of my work study jobs he was my supervisor. He was a role model. I experienced firsthand how even with our human limits we can put Christ’s teachings to work in how we do our jobs and treat others.
SMB: Can you think of an anecdote from your time at the Priory that exemplifies your experience?
TLG: Who can forget the impassioned biology classes
with Father Marus. Each class was an adventure in the paradoxes of life. On the one hand insatiable scientific curiosity with its rigorous discipline and on the other hands a capacity for joy, wonder, awe and deep humility.
I remember going to visit Father Marus a few years after I graduated from university. I wanted to get some guidance on how I could go about doing God’s will? I wanted to understand how do we really serve? During my visit, I never actually asked the question. When we were in his office, many people and students came by seeking his help. I watched how he gave each person his full attention, care and presence. It struck me then and there that that’s what it means to serve. He had shown me through his example. To this day that’s an anchoring story for me.
SMB: What is the most challenging aspect of your work?
TLG: Having people understand my work. I don’t sell a specific set of goods or services. I architect communication, learning and development strategies to support performance needs in an organization. It’s never the same; nor do I espouse any secret formula or methodology. I often never use the word, “story,” with my clients. Stories are just an essential and inseparable part of how I do what I do. I’ll exercise the trust of this special forum to admit that the real work is the work of the Holy Spirit. I show up and create a space of dialog. Through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit things happen. People trust one another and they open up to themselves and to each other. People become attuned to a greater set of possibilities offered by God’s infinite unconditional love for us.
SMB: What advice would you give for current Priory students and parents?
TLG: Cherish each moment. The Priory is a unique ecosystem. You are being nourished and cared for in mind, heart, spirit, and body in ways that you will be hard pressed to find in such abundance as they are at the Priory. There are subtle ways that defy simple explanations that I have been formed by the Priory. Don’t underestimate the unique blessings
of the monastic’s community daily rhythm of pray and their committed devotion to imitate Christ’s life as imperfect, fallible humans. We need to ask ourselves how can we be witnesses of God’s unconditional love embodied in the unique experience we had at the Priory?
Sail on your dreams and the dreams of others. So much is possible when we share our passions. Be sure to appreciate others’ talents. Celebrate their successes. Mostly there are great divides between ourselves and others due to our differences and our inability to extend our boundary of self to include someone else’s needs and fears. No one needs proof; only we do—and that is best found in how we creatively attend to actualizing our talents.
Tomorrow is no better than today, and circumstances may change 180 degrees—so be agile. Being settled means being prepared to anticipate the next creative moment.
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