Life is Beautiful

Today was the very last day for me to go out with the students on their retreat, which typically goes from 9am to 1:30pm.  I have always gotten a lot of enjoyment from these: the pre-teens are eager for knowledge and ask interesting questions, like "why can't Jesuits get married?  If everyone became a Jesuit, that would mean the human race would go extinct?"  I get to talk about my experience of being pulled by God in the direction that gives me life, freedom, and joy; and I teach basic skills for examining one's life - saying 'yes' to movements that lead to life and joy and moving towards it. 

At the end of the day, I was telling a group how I would be going back to Canada and might never see them again.  They were cutely distressed and were very eager to invite me back to Jamaica to teach them next year.  In an amazingly short time we all connected.  I'll miss them and they'll miss me.  And they each gave me a hug before heading off back to school on their bus.  Sometimes, life is really beautiful.