It's been more than a month since I last posted, so I guess it's time for an update!
Like I wrote in my last entry, my Metro commuting days have come to a merciful end, and I have embarked on a new and entirely unexpected journey. Looking back I really couldn't tell you how this all happened. It just did. I mark my one-month anniversary this Thursday, and I still pinch myself on a regular basis.
I don't really have the words to articulate how much I love my new job. Aside from the surface things -- the money, the location, the greater responsibility -- this opportunity is really turning out to be something special. I haven't felt so "at home" in a situation since I was a college student.
When I was in high school and was first bitten by the journalism bug, I dreamed of doing such noble things -- giving voice to the voiceless and righting wrongs. With my pen and paper and keyboard, my writing could have an impact, my work had a purpose for the greater good. Well, I did write a few stories that fit that description and I will be forever proud of those efforts. But not everyone in the business strives for or considers such lofty ideas.
For the first time since I realized the power of the pen, I'm waking up in the morning filled with that same sense of purpose. My byline isn't on the front page of the paper or online every morning anymore. And I'm not chasing after the governor or some other high-profile state official.
No, instead, I'm traveling up and down the Northeast coast meeting and getting to know a group of men who've given their lives to the service of the Church, specifically the poorest and most abandoned of her members. My abilities are now at their service. My words -- written and spoken -- and my photos are the tools that will help them support themselves in the future, and, God willing, draw more to their ranks.
I really don't know how I got here, and I don't know how or why these men have so quickly found their way into my heart, but I know my priority every day is to do my best for them. They are and have been a gift to so many. My prayer is that they continue to be such a gift for years to come.
